


A Love Story in Five Parts

by rurambles



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Anal Sex, Biting, Haikyuu!! Manga Spoilers, Kissing, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Public Display of Affection, Teasing, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:42:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 54,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27168790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rurambles/pseuds/rurambles
Summary: If anyone had told Kei in the beginning of his first year at Karasuno that he was going to go out with Hinata Shoyou of all people, he would have laughed in their face.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 51
Kudos: 498





	1. Chapter 1

Part 1.

If anyone had told Kei in the beginning of his first year at Karasuno that he was going to go out with Hinata Shoyou of all people, he would have laughed in their face. But here he was, half way through his second year with Shoyou, his dumbass of a boyfriend sitting in his bedroom struggling through homework that he definitely should have understood last year. 

“Keiiii” Hinata extends his name into an irritating whine, “help me with this.”

He takes off his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose, “There’s no helping idiots.” 

“Is there helping boyfriends?’ Hinata flashes a bright smile that perhaps would have worked better if Kei could see anything other than a blurry orange blob. 

“That was a terrible sentence. I’ve been tutoring you for a year. How are you still so dumb? I should quit.”

“You’re not going to quit, you like me too much.” He leans in and pretends to whisper, “But I won’t tell anyone.” 

Kei huffs out a small laugh, “Shut up, Shou. What are you having trouble with this time?”

“Everything! It’s so hard!”

\--

The start of their relationship was volatile. They weren’t actually sure if they liked each other but there was some weird magnetism that kept drawing them together. 

It started after their first Nationals. The competition was physically as well as emotionally exhausting as they proved that Karasuno could fly once more. Once again they were a nationally ranked team, it wasn’t first, but it was top 8 and that was something to be proud of. At least that’s what Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei said. But still on the bus ride back to school they all silently cried their tears of frustration and exhaustion until they were rocked to sleep by the gentle and not so gentle shaking of the bus.

The ride was unusually quiet.

When they returned to Karasuno tensions were high. They didn’t want to be met with a school full of their peers congratulating them on getting so far, they didn’t want to explain their red eyes and sour moods. So they were relieved when they found no one there to greet them, they weren’t ready to put on happy faces and celebrate what, when they got down to it, was a defeat. 

They silently filed to the club room to drop off some things and gather others before making their way home where they could process the tournament in the safety and solitary of their own bedrooms. When you’re alone no one can stop you from going over every missed opportunity. And that’s okay, sometimes you needed to wallow before you could pull yourself up and try again.

It wasn’t long before Hinata and Tsukishima were the only two left in the club room. Even the third years had left without realizing that they had to lock up, too caught up on the realization that it was all over for them. Tsukishima had sat on a bench and couldn’t bring himself to stand up. His thighs still ached and his body didn’t want to listen to that one simple command let alone make the entire walk home. So he sat there with his legs stretched out, and rubbed his palms up and down his thighs and (he’d deny this) wished he had endurance more like Hinata.

Hinata who had his head in a locker and wasn’t moving.

“You get lost in there?” Snark and sarcasm was something easy to fall back on, and both of them could stand to be riled up. 

He watched as Hinata wiped his eyes and took a deep breath to rise to the bait. “How do you get lost in a locker?”

Tsukishima shrugged even though Hinata wasn’t looking in his direction, “You have about as much depth.”

Hinata laughed as he turned around but there wasn’t much humor in it, “I don’t know what that means, Meanie-shima.”

“Idiot Hinata.” He shot back reflexively. 

With Tsukishima sitting on the low bench Hinata stepped forward between his legs to see what it was like to be taller than the tallest person on his team. It was an intimate position, he couldn’t remember if they had ever stood so close. “Is this what it’s like to be tall?”

Tsukishima frowned up at him, “No.”

“I feel like the strongest person alive right now,” he flailed his arms wildly, “I don’t usually get to look down on someone. Even Noya-senpai, I’m taller than him but we’re still about the same height. Is this why you’re so mean? You feel powerful?” 

“Powerful, huh?” Tsukishima tilted his head back and pinned him with his eyes. Even below him he still seemed to hold all the cards.

And Hinata wasn’t sure why he did it or what compelled him to, maybe it was the clear challenge in Tsukishima’s eyes, but he gripped the back of his head, holding him in place, and kissed him. Maybe it was something else though. Because maybe he wanted to win something and maybe right now he could beat Tsukishima at his own game and be more powerful.

But Tsukishima surprised him by grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him closer and it made something in his stomach flutter. The kiss was terrible, it was more of a fight than a kiss as they tried to release all of their frustrations about losing on the court into one teeth-clashing moment. But it was still good. It was something he could pour his energy into and when Tsukishima harshly bit him he could do it back. For once they could be evenly matched at something.

Then Tsukishima had to surprise him again by pulling him into his lap, their heights evened out a bit, and he kissed him softer and slower with no teeth and all soft lips. Hinata gasped slightly at the change of pace but accepted it, if he wanted to shift from frustration to comfort they could do that too but his stomach did that floppy thing again that had nothing to do with Nationals and everything to do with how the room had fallen away. He couldn’t even smell that weird, off locker room smell. Tsukishima held his cheek so gently as they kissed and Hinata wasn’t sure what was louder, the rushing in his ears or the pounding of his heart. Damn Tsukishima was winning this too. Maybe.

Then he surprised him again by holding him tight as he sobbed into his chest.

They wanted to win Nationals. They got this instead.

Whatever this was.

It was probably nothing.

\--

The next day they didn’t talk about it. In fact the next week they didn’t talk about it. They treated each other as normally as possible. 

Hinata was bright and cheerful to everyone as he tried to hype them up for next season and they talked about potential first years. He listened starry-eyed as Noya boasted about the wonders of being a senpai. He begged for help studying, and yelled at Tsukishima when he refused but Yachi offered her assistance again instead to help break the tension. He tried to get everyone to do extra practice and kept calling for one more toss over and over and Kageyama always complied. He was fairly sure his gaze never lingered on Tsukishima’s hands or lips. 

Tsukishima was as closed off as always, but still ready with a scathing remark or his signature sarcasm. He let Suga repeatedly slap his back and tell him not to scare their new first years when they arrive and to be a good sempai when he’s gone. He rolled his eyes at Hinata’s begging for tutoring because he should know this stuff by now. But did shrug off extra practice less because he was still sour over their loss. He was sure that he was acting normal, especially since Yamaguchi would have asked if he was okay otherwise. 

-

But then during free practice when Tsukishima’s stamina was at his limits, Kageyama made an infuriating comment about his blocking that had him digging his fingernails into his palms because it was true and had cost them points at Nationals. 

So as payback he cornered Hinata in the storage room and forcefully kissed him. Hinata automatically wrapped his arms around Tsukishima’s neck but he pulled back with a dazed “what?” to which he was only told to shut up and was kissed again because Tsukishima didn’t want to say that he was here to play with someone else’s toy. 

It was only their second time kissing and with Hinata pushed against the far wall so anyone passing by couldn’t see and thoroughly pinned in place, he had to say they were getting better at the whole thing. There was far less clashing but also less gentleness than their first time and it had left Hinata’s knees feeling weak. But when Tsukishima had slightly opened his mouth and licked Hinata’s lower lip and earned back a moan, he ran, leaving behind a very confused partner.

-

But then Hinata failed a test that he had actually studied for and he got in Tsukishima’s face for refusing to tutor him again because somehow his cruel and unusual techniques got through to him better than Yachi’s kind and patient ones. And Tsukishima made a comment about maybe he would be more afraid if Hinata was yelling at his face instead of his chest, so Hinata tugged harshly on his collar and pulled him down and kissed him to make him shut up. This time Hinata turned scarlet and fled the scene.

-

But then they were at Tsukishima’s house doing homework and Hinata said, “Should we go out?”

Tsukishima made a face like it was the worst thing he had ever heard, “why would I date an idiot?”

“You keep kissing an idiot,” he offered unhelpfully. 

“I guess I need to make you smarter.”


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2.

If anyone had told Kei he would be an affectionate boyfriend, he would have laughed in their face. 

No one would ever look at him and decide he was someone who was into public displays of affections. Or possibly even private displays of affection. It was easier to look at him and decide he was a complete jerk and would treat his significant other that way. Or, if you were being really generous, say that he was observant and would be good at noticing little things about his partner and maybe doing things about it.

As it turned out, Shoyou was an affectionate boyfriend (surprising absolutely no one) and Kei was, as Yamaguchi was so happy to point out, practically touch starved and once he got over it, more than happy to take in all the affection Shoyou had to offer and give it back in kind. The two combined were gross, which Kageyama liked to tell them repeatedly with a facial expression that could only be called absolute disgust. Annoying the King may or may not have been an added benefit. 

It started out fairly innocuous. They were second-years now and all of the second-year volleyball club members, Yachi included, would pile into one classroom to have lunch together. (In the beginning Kageyama would complain about it but Hinata shut him down with a well placed and no ill intentioned “do you have other friends?” that had his boyfriend laughing for the rest of the day.)

The first time during their shared lunch period they heard Hinata say “Kei” while asking about a homework question they all tensed for a fight. This was a guy who refused all nicknames, who seemingly tolerated Tsukki from his only childhood friend and despite the years they still didn’t call each other by their first names. But Tsukishima didn’t even blink, he simply called Hinata an idiot and tried to explain it in words he would understand, be it as condescending as possible. There was a weird tension for the rest of the period as they waited for what they still thought to be an inevitable explosion.

But it never happened. 

Yamaguchi cornered Tsukishima before volleyball practice and simply asked, “So are you Kei now?” with a grin that only someone who put up with years of Tsukishima’s attitude could pull off.

Tsukishima scowled at him, “Do we makeout now?” 

The responding eep and blush was satisfying but the resounding end of the conversation was more so. 

(The first time they heard Tsukishima say “Shou” Yachi blushed so hard they worried that she would pass out and Kageyama scowled at both of them for the rest of the day. Hinata didn’t know what he did to deserve such ire but his boyfriend’s smug face told him that they definitely did something.)

\--

There were small things too. If they were sitting next to each other then they were touching in some way, legs pressed together or a hand resting in the crook of an arm. If they were sitting across from each other, Kei stretched his legs so at least their ankles would bump.

Kei liked the touching. He enjoyed the warmth and the weight and the comfort. He enjoyed the swirl in his stomach when Shoyou deliberately shifted how he was sitting so they could touch. He looked at Yamaguchi and wondered if he would like that touch too, if he actually craved human contact, but then Shoyou smiled up at him and his stomach flipped and for the first time he realized. He liked Shoyou. 

Then they started holding hands. 

Kei hated it. “Holding hands with you is like holding hands with a small child.”

Shoyou tried to kick him but Kei dodged, “I’m not a small child! I’m older than you!” 

“I held hands with Natsu once when we took her to the museum. I can’t tell the difference.” He continued on like his boyfriend wasn’t yelling at him.

“I’m taller than my sister!”

Kei took a step closer so he could really tower over him, “Really? Down there you all look the same.”

Hinata looked up at him with big pleading eyes and reached up to lightly play with the hair on the back of Kei’s neck, “Kei-chan,” he said quietly, “will you hold my hand?” 

His eyes widened and he automatically moved to readjust his glasses in order to hide the blush he knew was coming. “You manipulative idiot.” He took a step back and offered his hand. 

“Thank you, Stingyshima!”

“Shut up.”

He could tolerate this too.

\--

For the most part they left their relationship at the door of the gym. Sure, they helped each other stretch before practice and they checked in with each other to make sure they were keeping hydrated, but for the most part Shoyou was partnered with Kageyama and Kei was starting to work on adding more power to his serves which was a solo venture.

If one looked in the gym at any given time, or even watched a whole practice, it would be difficult to correctly guess which two people were dating.

Until suddenly it wasn’t.

Kei was sitting on the bench sipping some water and his arms hurt. Serving was hard. His usual serve was reliable, always made it over the net and he had a modicum of control over it but it lacked power so it was easy to receive. There was a benefit to that, he knew, they often made plans off of when his serve was cleanly received, but he wanted to add something new to his arsenal. Damn Shoyou was always making him push himself to do better. He was used to his legs burning from running and jumping, used to holding his arms above his head for seemingly hours at a time, but serving was a different repetitive motion and his shoulders ached in a new way.

Shouyou must have spotted him stewing because he wandered over to check on him, away from the King which Kei always counted as a victory even if he was trying a little harder to be a little nicer. A fraction of a percent nicer. 

“You okay?” he asked from too far away.

It didn’t matter though, Kei’s limbs were long. He spread his legs a bit further and reached over to pull Shoyou between them before planting his forehead on his boyfriend’s stomach. It was soft even though he was so toned. He grunted in response to the question. 

Automatically Shoyou started running his fingers through Kei’s hair. They didn’t notice the gym grow quiet, too involved in their own little bubble of comfort and soothing. They sat there for a few moments until Kei leaned back, nodded once, and lightly pushed Shoyou away so they could go back to their respective practices. 

The other members of the club weren’t sure how to process what they saw.

“Wait, are they dating?” one of the first years, Masami, asked incredulously. Kei ruffled, he could hear two questions in those four words, Who would want to date Tsukishima? and Why is Hinata dating Tsukishima?

As if hearing his thoughts, Shoyou turned and gave him his brightest smile.

Yamaguchi, on the other hand, piped up with “They’ve been dating for months now, haven’t you even seen them outside of club?”

“They’re gross,” Kageyama added.

“Anything to disgust the King.”

Hinata fake gasped, “Are you dating me because of Kageyama.”

“Oh no,” Tsukishima deadpanned, “you finally figured out my plan. I knew you were dumb, but I didn’t think you were multiple months dumb.”

“Jerk-shima!”

He smirked, “You know it.”

“No,” Kageyama groaned, “they’re going to ruin volleyball like they ruined lunch.”

-

Ruining volleyball like they ruined lunch turned out to be a lot of fun and a bit of a safety hazard. 

Coach Ukai called a team meeting to discuss their next practice match with Date Tech and the whole team sat in front of a white board to discuss their plan of attack. Before the meeting started Kei pulled Shoyou into his lap, wrapped his arms around his waist, and rested his chin on top of his head. Shoyou wiggled once, twice, then comfortably leaned back and continued his conversation with Kageyama like nothing happened. 

Kageyama glared at them the entire time.

Kei knew that their teammates were looking at them and he schooled his face into the most bored expression he could while he waited for the meeting to start and pretended not to listen to his extremely loud boyfriend practically yell about how he was excited to play Date Tech again.

Eventually Coach Ukai started the meeting, talking about the strengths and weaknesses of their Iron Wall and offense, but as his eyes swept over his players he finally saw Hinata cuddling against Tsukishima and immediately began to trip over his words. Tsukishima smirked at him but Hinata was listening with the eagerness of a young puppy as Ukai attempted to regather his thoughts.

No one said anything though, and it’s worth it every time he catches someone stumbling over their words or feet.

Shoyou was easy to move around and was willing to go where he's pulled mostly without complaint as long as he is not literally in the middle of a match or actively running. But Kei could easily maneuver him into his arms without disrupting a conversation (or purposefully disrupting a conversation), by draping his long arms over short shoulders and tugging lightly. Sometimes he liked to rest his chin on the top of his boyfriend’s head and tease. “How can someone who eats as much as you be so short? You’re going to ruin my back.” And he did have to hunch over a little bit to rest on his head.

“You should stretch more.”

Kei leaned over and whispered, “will you help me stretch more, Sho?” in his ear so no one else could hear and Shoyou turned bright red while nodding furiously.

Masami took a volleyball to the face while watching the exchange.

-

The kissing was the most enjoyable though. It was never more than a peck (or a few), they had some boundaries, but it was funny how much the others could not get used to them. And Kei would anxiously pull on his fingers and decide that, yes, funny is how he wanted to think about it. It didn’t bother him at all that no one thought they were a good couple.

He was still practicing his jump serve, he could get it over the net most of the time but he didn’t feel like it was that powerful. Asahi was powerful. This was nothing. As he got ready for his next attempt he saw Shoyou standing to the side, the King dismissed him a few minutes ago complaining about something or other.

The ball went over the net and remained inbounds but he still wasn’t satisfied. 

“Nice serve,” Shoyou called out.

Kei turned to nod in thanks, already focused on the next one, but Shoyou was in front of him in a flash, standing on his toes and tugging on his shirt to pull him down for a quick kiss. “Doing great.”

Across the room Yachi knocked over an entire cart of volleyballs.

Shoyou looked up at him again, “was that okay?”

“Don’t mind,” he smirked and again started lining up his next serve.

-

Kei was not one to let any challenge go unanswered. After a grueling spiking practice with Kageyama (one more, one more, one more, they both called over and over like the volleyball idiots they were) Kei called Shoyou over to hydrate but held his water bottle ransom. 

“Kei,” he complained with a high pitch whine, “you can’t tell me to do something and then not let me do it.”

He pretended to think it over, “Kiss.”

Shoyou’s face broke out into a blinding smile as he hopped on to the bench to try and even out their height difference. He pressed his lips to Kei’s and smiled at him. “There!” 

“One more.”

He laughed but did it again.

“One more.”

“Kei!” he shrieked and did it again.

“One more.”

Kei tried not to think about how if calling for one more toss over and over made them volleyball idiots, what this makes him. 

By then no one in the room could look at them. They belonged in their own happy couple bubble that was clearly marked “Property of Tsukishima Kei” on the outside for everyone to see.

“Ugh disgusting.” Kageyama groaned.

For once, Tsukishima didn’t care to insult him back.

\--

In their second year they get back to the National stage, back to those amazing courts, only to fall in the same place. They retained their national ranking, but it still hurt. They didn’t advance.

On the bus back Shoyou crawled into Kei’s arms and sniffed back tears while Kei sardonically whispered “happy anniversary”.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3. 

If anyone had told Kei he would be a possessive boyfriend, he would have laughed in their face, but inwardly agreed.

As it turned out, Shoyou was affectionate with everyone. Teammates, friends, members of other teams, everyone. 

It was no secret that Tsukishima and Kageyama didn’t get along. It was less known that now that they were in their third year of high school he really disliked the easy rapport that Kageyama had with his boyfriend, no matter how antagonistic it also was. He didn’t like that Kageyama pushed Hinata to be better just like Shoyou pushes him to be better. He didn’t like how much time they spent together. 

Kageyama was an oblivious fool. He would scoff and roll his eyes at how gross they were being and then he would stand around and wait for them to be done, sometimes with grumpy commentary. Kei didn’t think that anyone would have to be told not to watch people makeout.

Kageyama was often looking for Hinata after Tsukishima pulled him away from practice for one reason or another. It was ridiculous that he had to go looking for them. His first stop was usually the vending machines-- for himself, not for them-- and then behind the gym. And there he found them, Hinata pushed against the wall with one leg hitched around Tsukishima’s hip holding him off the ground and their hands in each other’s hair.

“Oi, let’s get back!” he yelled towards them. Tsukishima pushed further into Hinata so Kageyama walked closer to try and break them apart. “C’mon dumbass, we have to work on that quick timing.” 

Tsukishima did something to make Hinata moan but Kageyama crossed his arms and waited. Hinata turned to look at him (Tsukishima chased his lips but Hinata pushed his head into the crook of his neck and Tsukishima kissed there instead, causing Hinata to blush a bright red), and blinked a few times to try and focus.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

“I’m waiting right here so you don’t run off again.”

Hinata groaned in frustration, “Kei, we need to stop.” Tsukishima bit him but let him down with a glare to the King. 

“You two are disgusting. We have practice right now”

“And yet you stood and watched.” Kei replied lazily as he wiped saliva away from the rapidly forming mark on his partner’s neck.

Kageyama stuttered for a bit and stormed off but Hinata took that as a challenge to a race and the two of them zoomed around the corner.

Kei leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and reminded himself that Shoyou was still with him. Jealousy was such a lame feeling.

Escaping Kageyama was impossible. He was Shoyou’s best friend and an integral part of the team. It felt like Kageyama was everywhere he looked. Shoyou wanted all of them to study together and he wanted all of them to train together and despite stolen moments, it felt like all of his time was taken up by someone other than his boyfriend. 

Kei sulked back into the gym. 

“Captain!” Kazuhiko, one of the new first year players, called out to him. He tried to arrange his features into something neutral, he wasn’t actually trying to scare all of them but even his neutral expression tended to intimidate them. 

The captaincy had been a surprise to him. He agreed that of the third year players he was the most intelligent, that much was clear, and he could analyze the strengths and weaknesses of players, but he wasn’t well liked nor was he a good motivator. Shoyou stepped in as his vice-captain to fill his deficiencies. 

(Coach Ukai awkwardly talked to him after to try and ask what they would do if the two of them broke up and Kei stopped him before he could get the question out. Kei knew that he only wanted what was best for the team so he bit back his real feelings and promised that Yamaguchi would replace one of them if the situation ever arose.)

He talked to the eight first year students (eight! Their successive National placements had garnered them some attention) and tried to help them with blocking and receiving and tried not to think about the odd-ball duo doing their own practice. 

He knows that later Shoyou will smile brightly at him and come home with him for homework help and let Kei kiss him as frantically as he needs to until both of their mouths hurt, but for now he grits his teeth and waits it out.

-

Shoyou tumbled into the seat next to Kei and slapped a piece of paper in front of him proudly. “Kei! Look how good I did!”

“How well you did,” Kei corrected automatically. He looked at Shoyou’s test where he miraculously got more questions right than wrong. “I didn’t help you study any of this.”

Shoyou nodded vigorously, “Yachi helped me because you were busy writing some paper.”

Kei put the test down before he crumbled it in his hands. He knew that Shoyou was allowed to study and work with other people, it was stupid to be jealous of such a thing. But he also knows that his boyfriend is bisexual and he knows that other guys find Yachi cute and he knows that he can’t show that his hands are about to shake with some kind of emotion he doesn’t want to name. He wants to twist his fingers but Shoyou knows his anxious ticks.

Instead he smiled, “Good job, Shou.”

But it must not be convincing enough, or Shoyou can read him way too well because he got a frown in response. “What’s wrong? Don’t you like that I did good… well… without you? Now I don’t need to bother you all the time.”

Kei took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, he wasn’t dealing with this right now. He’d rather deal with it never. Just put it all in a box in the back of his brain and wait for it to decompose and he forgets all about it. It’s not the healthiest way to deal with his feelings, he knew that, but jealousy over helping someone study for a test isn’t a healthy feeling either. 

“Oh!” Shoyou moved his chair closer, “you like when I bother you.”

“I hate you.”

“Softy-shima,” he hummed.

“So much.”

Shoyou leaned lightly on Kei’s arm and fiddled with the still removed glasses between bites of his lunch. He tried to wheedle Kei into eating more, anything really, but he waved it off. And he chatted aimlessly about the manga he was reading and about how Natsu was doing and things he heard about their old teammates and he didn’t mind at all when Kei barely responded beyond a grunt, sigh, or tsk. 

It was nice. Kei tried not to worry about how maybe Shoyou knew that there was actually something very wrong with him. The more he chatted about nothing Kei realized that this used to be extremely annoying and now it was the same as listening to music, it was calming and grounding. 

Maybe he would talk to Shoyou about his possessive feelings.

-

He didn’t get a chance before they were thrown in his face by Kuroo of all people. 

Kei liked Shoyou’s house. It was too loud and a bit too chaotic but it was always warm and welcoming. He knew that he greatly contributed to the cold feeling of his own home with his complicated feelings towards his brother so it was a nice change of pace to walk into a house and feel at ease. 

It helped that Natsu liked him and she would often come chatter at him in the same way Shoyou did. 

When they had first met she was wearing alligator print pajamas and, for lack of a better topic of conversation, he asked if she liked alligators and she hasn’t stopped talking to him since. Natsu was happy to do most of the talking but she was also happy to listen when he got into things like the scientific names of animals. 

After their first meeting, when Shoyou could finally pull him away from his sister, they kissed sweetly while Shoyou had stars in his eyes. He was amazed that Kei could be so nice. Kei only scoffed at the idea. He was not nice.

But now he could easily enter the Hinata family home and exchange pleasantries with all of its members. He often had a book from his collection for Natsu that she always took great care of and he would return home with the previous book he brought her. It was comfortable. It was safe. Shoyou’s family didn’t know the true nature of their relationship but Kei suspected that they knew it was different from, say, Shoyou and Kageyama’s relationship. Which was fine, they didn’t need to worry about things like coming out to their families. 

Kei didn’t think twice about sprawling out on Shoyou’s bed with his headphones on and dozing slightly while Shoyou puzzled through a paper that he should have started at least a few days ago. Kei had promised that he would help him through it but he needed to have something to work with first. 

He didn’t expect to be woken up by Shoyou’s loud laugh.

Kei blinked the sleep out of his eyes and pushed off his headphones so he could readjust his glasses. Shoyou didn’t notice the movement, he was too busy retelling something that happened during practice to the person on the other end of the video chat. 

“Sounds troublesome.” Says the computer and Kei knows that Kenma is on the other end. He should have known really, the two talk almost daily through text and Shoyou has mentioned in the past that they video chat during the week but he has never been around during one of their calls.

Kei dragged himself out of the bed, he was never good at waking up, and sat down behind Shoyou so he could pull his boyfriend into his lap and bury his face in his hair. 

“Kei! You’re awake!” 

“Hello, Tsukishima.” 

He grumbled in response, still not really awake. 

Shoyou laughed. “Your hair looks like Kuroo’s, you have bedhead.” 

“Do I hear my name?” purred the computer screen before Kuroo popped up behind Kenma, “Oh Tsukki, I didn’t know you were there too! Couldn’t let them chat by themselves, huh?” Kuroo grinned at him like he knew something he shouldn’t. And maybe he did. 

Kei held Shoyou tighter. “I should have known better than to go to sleep when he has a paper to write. Shou would take any distraction.”

Kuroo’s grin widened. “Maybe you should distract him instead.” On screen Kenma rolled his eyes.

“I will.” He reached over and ended the call. 

“Kei, that wasn’t very nice.”

“I’m not very nice.”

-

Shoyou stayed over at the Tsukishima house enough that he kept a bag of clothes there. It was convenient for if practice ran late or they were holding early morning practice or the weather made it unsafe to bike home. Or any other excuse they came up with to spend more time together. 

The Tsukishima house was quieter. Kei’s mother worked out of the home and now that her children were older she felt like she could be out of the house more, so the house was often empty and a tad lonely. 

The house was not quiet when Akiteru was home. It was lively and annoying. Kei understood that his brother wanted to make up for the time and bond lost between them, and over the years they had taken multiple steps closer to each other, but Aki liked to ‘be there for him’ and Kei didn’t know how to accept or return that affection. 

That affection, of course, was why Aki knew about his relationship with Shoyou. He unexpectedly went to their first match of the year to cheer on his little brother’s captain debut, and he saw them exchange a quick kiss on the sideline. 

When the match was over Aki slapped him hard on the back to congratulate him, both for the win and the relationship. As loud mouthed as Kei knew his brother could be, he also knew that he could keep a secret, so after a few words he was confident their mother wouldn’t find out. 

So when Aki barged into Kei’s room and found the two boys kissing on the floor he wasn’t shocked, he just laughed it off. “Hinata, do you want to play a new video game with me? Kei refuses to play.”

Shoyou broke the kiss, “Sure! Set it up, I’ll be out in a minute.”

Kei looked at Shoyou’s red lips and turned to glare at his brother, wishing he would grow any amount of common sense and realize he’s interrupting something and that Shoyou is an idiot who would decide, yes, video games sound nice right now even if my boyfriend is on top of me. 

Instead Aki gave them a thumbs up and left to set the game up, leaving the bedroom door open behind him. 

“Shou you are so stupid.” Kei grumbled into his neck before biting down hard. Shoyou didn’t answer, just grabbed Kei’s hair and gasped loudly.

Aki may have won this round but Kei was going to make sure everyone knew that Shoyou belonged to him. 

Well, that Shoyou belonged to someone. 

-

Kei didn’t know that Shoyou could feel jealousy about non-volleyball related things. Kei’s brand of jealousy and Shoyou’s brand of jealousy were different, or maybe he thought that because he had only ever seen it in a volleyball related context. 

He had seen Shoyou jealous of other players’ height and their serve and ability but it was always tinged with, or even overshadowed by, his admiration and his drive to get to that level. Shoyou used those feelings to push forward and get better, opposed to Kei who just became bitter or (and he would never admit this out loud) clingy. 

But Shoyou didn’t seem to get jealous of people off the court. He didn’t mind when people took up Kei’s time or got overly familiar with him because that was simply part of his personality as well. Shoyou was used to monopolizing people and smiled proudly when people wanted to spend time with his prickly boyfriend. 

He didn’t mind when Kei spent the weekend with Yamaguichi like Kei bristled when he spent too much time with Kageyama. He didn’t mind when Kei put his headphones on and tuned him out because no matter how much he liked him he was still so overwhelming sometimes. 

Which is why it was funny to see him acting jealous over Natsu. 

It was fairly routine by now to sit down with Natsu with some book or another about animals and go over cool facts. Shoyou was only a volleyball freak, Kei at least had other interests. So it was nothing out of the ordinary for Natsu to join them at the table with the large book about dinosaurs that Kei had left a few weeks ago and for them to start talking animatedly about it.

At first Shoyou loved to watch them talk. Kei lit up as he lectured Natsu about how herbivores could be as dangerous or even more dangerous than carnivorous animals and Natsu nodded along excitedly. But Shoyou frowned, he couldn’t remember the last time he was on the receiving end of such a discussion. 

He didn’t truly understand the feeling in his stomach but he knew that he wanted to pull Kei’s attention towards him so he did the first thing he thought of, he scooted closer and put his hand on Kei’s thigh. 

Kei glanced at him with a small smirk and kept talking to Natsu. 

Shoyou felt his blood run hot. By this point he wasn’t sure what they were talking about but he was positive that Kei’s smirk was a challenge and he was never one to back down from a challenge. Slowly he ran his hand up and down Kei’s thigh, on each upswing he drifted closer to his inner thigh. He knew he was winning when Kei shifted and spread his legs further apart, and he knew he was hurtling towards victory when Kei’s breathing picked up and his thigh muscle jumped.

He knew he won when Kei asked Natsu to get them all some water. 

Kei turned to him with a lazy smile that he was clearly using to try and hide how he was feeling, “What are you doing, Sho?” 

“Who, me?” he responded as innocently as he could. 

Kei pulled Shoyou into his lap. “Are you jealous that I’m talking to your sister?” He whispered hotly in his ear and Shoyou shook his head. “Hmm, why else would you start something like that?”

Shoyou squirmed, “I wanted your attention.”

“Jealous: feeling envious or resentful because of their achievements or advantages.”

\--

In their third and final year they made it back to the national stage. Kei didn’t know what to do with the feelings of pride for the team that he led and he didn’t know how to quash down the anxiety that threatens to overtake him. Before every match he had to stop his hands from shaking.

For the first time they break out of the top 8.

They make it to the top 4 and fall there.

The bus ride home is more cheerful than he expected it to be. They didn’t win the entire tournament but they did better than they did the past two years. The first-years are ecstatic that they managed to get so far on their first go, the second-years are proud.

The third years are a mixed bag of emotions. 

Yamaguchi babbled for a bit about how he is proud of how much they accomplished and sure he’s upset that they couldn’t take the whole thing but top 4 is nothing to be upset about. They let him go because it seemed like he’s working through his feelings out loud. But when Yachi placed a hand on his arm they realized tears were streaming down his face. 

“I’m not upset,” he told them, “just frustrated.” 

Kageyama nodded along with that. His eyes were a bit red but he didn’t want the younger members to see him cry over something that they should be proud of.

“Hinata!” Kageyama declared loudly, “Next time we meet on the court we’ll be on opposite sides of the net and I will beat you.”

A grin spread across Hinata’s face, “You’re on! I won’t lose!” 

Next to Hinata, Tsukishima gripped his hand tightly. He wore headphones and a sleeping mask hoping to give off an intense ‘leave-me-alone’ aura. Besides Hinata occasionally squeezing his hand, it worked. 

Everyone was rightfully exhausted by the time they got back to Karasuno whether they slept on the bus or not. Coach Ukai held a short meeting where he congratulated them and the younger members said goodbye to their third-year teammates but they didn’t stick around to chat because after a year of working under Captain Tsukishima they can tell when he’s done. 

Hinata waved them all off and practically dragged his boyfriend into the club room because he could tell that he was not going to make it home.

Shoyou motioned for Kei to sit and he barely locked the door before he heard the first sob. 

Kei didn’t make it to the bench. He stumbled into the lockers and slid to the floor so he could hide his head in his knees and try to bury the tears that he didn't want to fall. His head already pounded with the tears he wouldn’t let fall on the bus.

In a moment Shoyou was there and holding him in his arms, trying to calm him like he didn’t also just suffer a defeat on the national stage again with no hope to try again. Kei felt silly, felt like a small child was holding him close and telling him it’ll be okay, felt like maybe the world was ending because of just some club, felt like maybe he had all of those walls up in first-year for a reason.

“Kei, you made Karasuno one of the top 4 schools in the country.”

He pulled his head up from Shoyou’s chest and looked him in the eyes stubbornly, trying to compose himself, “I wanted to win!” And it’s the truth. He cared about this club and this sport and this person. “I wanted you to win.”

Shoyou sniffed back his own tears, “Kei,” he whined, “you can’t just say things like that.”

Kei buried his face in Shoyou’s neck. “I love you. I couldn't do it.”

“I love you too.”

\--

Shoyou was nervous. And when he was nervous he fidgeted a lot. And when he fidgeted a lot he got on Kei’s nerves. 

Kei slammed his hands on the table, “What? What is wrong?” 

“Um, Kei?”

“Yes?” He twitched. 

“You know how you applied to colleges?”

He held up a hand to stop him, “You applied too. I helped you with applications. I saw them. Where is this going?” 

Shoyou fidgeted more, “I talked to Coach Ukai who talked to some other coaches who know some people and I’m going to go to Rio for two years to train in beach volleyball.” Kei stared at him. “Rio is in Brazil.” 

“I know where Rio is.” He responded tonelessly. 

“So what do you think?” 

“What do I think? I think it doesn’t matter what I think. You have it all planned out and you’re going to do it anyway.” Kei stood up from the table and started packing up his belongings. “You did all of this without consulting me so why ask now?”

“Kei! I’m not leaving right after graduation! I’ll be in Japan for another year while things get worked out and then I’ll be there for two years and then I’ll be back. Why are you so upset?” 

“Oh, good!” Kei forcefully put his bag on the table, “then you can break up with me next year instead of right now, thanks.”

Shoyou’s eyes widened, “that’s not what I’m doing!” 

“Well it sure seems like it. I don’t want to talk to you right now Shoyou.” 

He walked away, leaving behind his shocked and confused boyfriend. 

-

Yamaguchi handed him juice. He knew it was a peace offering and he knew that he could take the drink and ignore the reason. There was no reason to turn down a cold orange juice. 

Accepting it did mean that Yamaguchi felt it was safe to sit down beside him but years of friendship had taught him that silence was best for now. He waited until the juice box was empty and crushed before starting in on the real reason for this visit. 

“I talked to Hinata.” 

“That’s not news, he talks to chairs when he bumps into them.” He knew that Yamaguchi was looking at him but he focused on his hands instead. His fingers were red from twisting them.

Yamaguchi continued like Tsukki didn’t interrupt him, he was used to his best friend's brand of wit. “His Brazil plan sounds very well thought out. Use the sand and beach volleyball to help condition for indoor volleyball, a year here to prep everything and learn some Portugese then two years of training before he comes back. Did you listen to his explanation?”

Tsukki didn’t answer. 

“Hinata is a volleyball freak and always moving forward, but he’s not trying to leave you behind.”

Tsukki clenched his hands into fists, “So what am I supposed to do? Sit around and wait for him to get back?” 

Yamaguchi looked at him like he was an idiot and then laughed in his face. When did he become so uncool that Yamaguchi would publically laugh at him like this? “No, you lovesick idiot, go to college and study archeology like you want and join the college team so you’re still at the same place as him when he gets back. People do long distance relationships all the time.”

After a long silence, Tsukki sighed. “Shut up, Yamaguchi.” 

“Sorry, Tsukki,” he laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4. - Part 1

If anyone had told Kei he would be preparing to be in a long distance relationship, he would have laughed in their face.

Surprising no one, Kei gets into college. He talks animatedly with Shoyou about their anthropology department and all of the classes he can take there until he realizes that Shoyou is smiling dopily at him and gets embarrassed. 

Aki helps him move into the smallest one bedroom apartment they’ve ever seen but their mother promises to pay for it as long as he keeps his grades up and doesn’t get distracted by things like girls or dating. Throughout the lecture he keeps his expression blank and then gives her an empty smile and says he’ll be too busy between classes and the college volleyball team. He still needs to try out but he doesn’t tell her that the try out is a technicality and the coach is already excited to have him.

After their mother leaves, Aki and Kei help Shoyou move in. He is technically not enrolled at the school but through a chain of connections that Shoyou fails to properly explain (“you know, that coach from that school we played once knows someone who…”), he was being allowed to sit in on an Introduction to Portugese class and train alongside the team, although he could not participate in official matches or practice matches. 

The sun has long since set by the time Kei is able to push Aki out the door and tell him to go home. Shoyou is sprawled out on a secondhand couch when Kei walks back in the room but he sits up eagerly before Kei can sit on top of him.

“We live here!” he announces loudly to the tiny apartment. 

Kei rolls his eyes and shoves him and tries not to think about how it’s only for a few months before Shoyou leaves to go to the other side of the world. “I have something for you.” 

Shoyou’s eyes sparkle, “a present?” 

“Sure.”

Kei hands him a shopping bag and Shoyou tears into it with gusto. On top is a Portugese study guide. Then language CDs. “Kei,” he whines, “these are all for studying. This is a terrible present.”

He shrugs, “Then you won’t see what’s at the bottom.”

Shoyou lights up again. He pulls out a few volumes of the One Piece manga and is confused because he already owns them, but groans when he realizes they are also in Portugese and Kei is definitely planning on torturing him with this language. 

The last thing in the bag is a box. It’s long and thin and the more Shoyou examines it the more Kei can’t look at him. After way too long, and a few guesses of what’s inside where Kei pointedly ignores him, he finally opens the box.

Inside lay two necklaces, one with a gold sun pendant and one with a silver moon pendant. They’re simple, there are no fancy engraving or filigree or design but it is something that could be unobtrusively worn under a shirt and so perfectly represented them. Shoyou grows quiet as he stares at the necklaces and touches them delicately as if they are going to break any second. 

“Kei…” he says quietly and holds up the moon necklace, “will you put this on me?”

Kei takes the necklace and secures it around Shoyou’s neck. “I’ll put the sun one on myself since there’s no way you’re going to reach.” He says, trying to break the tension.

But Shoyou isn’t having any of that. He grabs the front of Kei’s shirt and pulls him down so he can kiss him. Their teeth clash awkwardly as if it was their first all over again and Kei takes a small step back to try and recompose himself but Shoyou simply utteres “don’t mind” and goes in for a gentler kiss. 

\--

The college gymnasium was much larger than Karasuno’s and for a moment Kei was intimidated by the number of high level players mulling about, but Shoyou bounded in with eyes wide and shining like this was the best thing he had ever seen. 

Kei took a subtle deep breath to calm himself and took in his surroundings. If he could take some time to analyze the room and the players he could figure out the best way to approach the situation. His eyes found Shoyou again who was already talking to the coach. Unfortunately he had a wildcard on his hands who could flip the situation at any moment. 

The Karasuno gym was only large enough to hold one full size court while this gym contained two. Compared to some of the tournaments he played in it wasn’t the largest stage but it was bigger than he was used to. It technically shouldn’t change how he played but he felt like he needed to be aware of more space and it already felt tiring but he could definitely see the advantages, how they could run multiple types of practices and drills at once. 

Most of the men in the room he didn’t know. There were a few faces he recognized, like Koganegawa frome Date Tech and Kyotani from Aoba Josai (both of whom acknowledged his entrance with a wave or a nod, which he reciprocated) but there were many more that he didn’t know or wasn’t friendly with. Shoyou, on the other hand, had moved on from talking to the coach and had assembled a small court of people who either recognized him, were friends with him, or were shocked by how small he was. People in the latter category were being lectured by people who knew him and Kei felt a small pang of pride.

One of the coaches blew his whistle and ordered them all to line up for introductions. Kei slowly made his way over to the group and stood at the end of the line. For the first time he noticed that a few of the potential players were taller than him, some significantly. Shoyou waved to old and new friends and made his way back over to Kei who was busy wondering if this is how Shoyou always felt.

He would have to adjust to not being the tallest player on the team. He got his starting position because of his height back in his first year, and that wasn’t going to be the case here. The coach had all but told him he would have a spot on the team but that didn’t mean a starting position. Kei held his elbows behind his back so he couldn’t fiddle with his fingers. 

The coach asked them to introduce themselves-- name, year, any noteworthy accomplishments, and what they were studying-- before they started the actual tryouts. 

Kei didn’t listen to any of the other introductions, he would learn the important information later if necessary. Not everyone here was going to make the team so it was a waste of energy.

“Tsukishima Kei, first year studying anthropology. As captain I took Karasuno High School to nationals where we placed third.” 

He stared dutifully forward as others turned to look at him. He didn’t want to meet anyone’s gaze lest they see the disappointment that still sat deep within him. Shoyou bumped his arm lightly as if he knew exactly where Kei’s thoughts had gone, and he probably did. He wondered if he knew Shoyou half as well as Shoyou knew him.

“Hinata Shoyou!” he said loudly, interrupting Kei’s small spiral, “I was Karasuno’s co-captain and ace. And. Uh, I don’t actually go to this school. I have special permission to train here for a few months before I go to Brazil.” Shoyou laughed awkwardly. 

Kei frowned at the reminder that Shoyou wasn’t actually going to be on his team anymore.

The tryouts were almost fun. The first time Shoyou jumped Kei heard the person next to him whisper “what the fuck” to himself and half of the gym turned and stared. Shoyou loved the attention and preened. Everyone is amazed by his jumping power and speed and eventually his stamina. He could run circles around guys double his height.

Kei took pride in blocking the majority of Shoyou’s spikes and gloated like he hadn’t spent countless hours preparing counters against his own teammate and partner for just this reason. Shoyou scowled at him but it’s worth it. 

Eventually one of the other middle blockers (taller than him, he notes) approached him and pointed to Shoyou, “How are you so good at blocking him?”

He shrugged, “His attacks have always been annoying so I always want to beat him.”

The other guy stared at him for a bit and besides tall Kei also filed him under not-that-bright, “oh! I forgot that you said you went to the same school!” 

Kei stared him down until he walked away.

“Meanie-shima,” Shoyou called from the other side of the net, “be nice to your teammates.” 

“I have never been nice a day in my life.”

“That’s not what Aki-nii tells me,” he taunted. 

“Shut up, Sho.”

Other players snickered at their banter and it set off mental alarm bells. All of their old teammates and many of their opponents knew that they were a couple, they weren’t always subtle at games, but Kei wasn’t ready to come out on this court. While all of their friends had accepted them he knew that there were still people who didn’t want to play alongside a gay teammate. 

Kei shook his head at Shoyou who nodded back and they toned it down.

Next came serving drills which proved to be a good way to work off his excess frustrations, and it was a more immediate solution than pushing Shoyou into bed when they got home. It worked too, his jump serve had more power behind it than usual. 

Kei didn’t want to replicate that type of frustration ever again.

When it was his turn to spike he had to keep asking the setter to set the ball higher. He almost asked for Kogane and his ridiculous sets to take over. It took four tries before he got the ball where he wanted, where Kageyama seemingly effortlessly always got it. Kei would never say it outloud but by their third year Kageyama had pushed him to jump much higher than he could in their first year. Coupled with his height it made for some impressive attacks.

The coach asked him to do it again at that height, and again. He mentally heard Shoyou yell “one more” in the back of his mind as he did it over and over. His jump wasn’t nearly as impressive as Shoyou’s though and he didn’t know why he was getting the attention. Frankly it was uncomfortable. 

“I like watching his form,” he heard Shoyou tell someone on the sideline after he completed the last spike, “He looks like he’s floating.”

Kei reached for the sun necklace that was securely tucked under his shirt. 

Later he pushed Shoyou into bed anyway.

\--

Kei liked to sit in the very back row of every class he possibly could. Part of it was ingrained in him because of his height and part of it was simply because he didn’t want to be looked at or interact with anyone he didn’t have to. The more he could disappear into the crowd the better. So he got to class early, claimed a seat in the back, and put on his headphones until class started in an attempt to not be bothered. 

In his Introductory to Anthropology class, the class he cared about most this semester, a girl sat down next to him. Kei didn’t acknowledge her presence but did note that the room wasn’t even half full and she didn’t need to sit next to him-- even if she wanted a back row seat there were plenty of other options. He sighed inwardly and hoped she wouldn't be annoying or try to talk to him.

He kept his headphones in, ignoring her too blatant staring, until the professor walked in. The professor was a small woman but rumor had it she was a force to be reckoned with and one of the best in the department. Of course he knew those rumors were true, he did his research on the school and degree program.

It wasn’t until Professor Satoshi took her place at the podium did Kei remove his headphones. The girl next to him opened her mouth to speak but the professor cut her off, much to his relief. She swiftly went over the syllabus for the semester and Kei diligently listened and made a few notes in the margins.

Not bothering with the fact that this was the first class and many students were expecting just to hear about the syllabus and leave, Professor Satoshi dove right into the first lesson without pause. Kei decided he was going to like her. 

She used up every single minute of class time and Kei took in every single word. Perhaps college wasn’t going to be so bad. He was going to learn about things he actually cared about.

He loitered after class while most students filed out and others asked Professor Satoshi questions. When she was finally free he approached her as well. 

“Hello, and you are?” she looked up at him and he realized that she was even smaller than Shoyou and he towered over her. He felt self-conscious and wondered if he could discreetly make himself look smaller, he usually had very good posture, maybe he could hunch his shoulders. 

She was still staring at him and he realized the silence had gone on a beat too long.

“Oh. I’m Tsukishima Kei. I’m looking forward to your class but I’m going to miss some of the lectures.” He handed her a piece of paper and she scanned it quickly. 

“Sports.” She looked up at him like she was just now realizing how tall he was, “You’re still responsible for everything you miss and I will not extend any deadlines for you. Am I clear?” 

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” 

When Kei left the classroom he noticed that the girl who had sat next to him was following him. She had stayed behind as well but didn’t ask the professor anything. She waited for him. Great. He tried to lose her in the crowd as he made his way to the gym but he was a head taller than many of the students and easy to spot.

She caught up to him at the exit of the building. 

“Hi! I’m Haruka! I was in Satoshi’s class with you. I was wondering if you wanted to trade contact information so we can exchange notes if one of us misses class.”

Kei sped up his pace. “No thanks.” 

She broke out in a light jog to keep up with his long legs. “Wow, why are you being so rude? It’ll be really helpful to have a study partner, you know? I hear her classes are hard and you look smart. I take good notes too.” 

“I don’t need any help,” he put his headphones back on, hoping she would take it as the brush off it clearly was but apparently she wasn’t very bright. 

They turned the corner and arrived at the gym. Shoyou was waiting outside lightly bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. Kei had to stop himself from smiling at the sight.

“Maybe I’m asking for your help then!” Haruka yelled, drawing the attention of Shoyou and a few passerbys. 

Shoyou was by his side before Kei could finish sighing. “He’s not good at helping others.” He whispered conspiratorially with Haruka before winking at Kei like they were sharing an inside joke, and maybe they were.

“Who… are you?”

“Hinata Shoyou! Tsukki and I are teammates? Roommates?” He looked up at Kei, “How do you describe us?” 

“Don’t call me that. Let’s go, we’re going to be late”

He put a hand on top of Shoyou’s head and forcibly led him to the gymnasium door. When it looked like Haruka was going to say something else, he closed the door behind him. 

Once they were inside Shoyou turned on him, “you were being really rude, Meanie-shima.”

Kei rolled his eyes at both the nickname and the dramatics, “I don’t want her trying to hit on me all year.”

“...oh.”

He grinned in that wicked way Shoyou knew meant he walked into a trap, “Jealous?” 

“Keeiiii!”

\--

Shoyou was trapped under a Kei shaped blanket when he heard someone attempt to enter their apartment. The door knob rattled for a moment before he heard the scrape of a key and that narrowed down who could be trying to visit them. 

The number of people who had a key to their apartment was a point of contention between the two of them. Kei’s mother had a spare because she was paying for it and he decided that couldn’t be avoided. Akiteru had one as well because their mother wanted him to check in on his little brother occasionally and Kei gave in to that one as well. But Shoyou pointed out that if they ever lost their keys there was no one really close by who could help them out so he gave copies to Yamaguchi and Kageyama, which he was not happy about. 

Shoyou didn’t mind though, the more the merrier he tried to tell his grumpy boyfriend. If he could have his way they would have some type of communal living situation. He loved the training camps where they all piled into one room with their futons and slept together and ate together and practiced together day in and day out. But Kei liked his privacy and technically the apartment was more Kei’s than it was both of theirs, he was a temporary guest.

Kei didn’t hear the door open or softly click closed. He barely moved as Shoyou tried to crane his neck to see who was sneaking in, but Shoyou kept running his fingers through Kei’s hair and gently scratching his scalp and that always had a calming and sleepy effect.

It didn’t take long for Akiteru to pop his head around the corner looking for them and he grinned at the adorable scene in front of him; he so rarely saw the softer side of his brother. Shoyou put a finger to his lips in a shushing motion but then waved him into the room. 

“What are you doing here?” he whispered.

“I actually came here to talk to you. I wanted to come by earlier when Kei would be at class but I had to work later than I thought,” he whispered back.

Shoyou scrunched his nose. Him and Akiteru were friendly, they often joked that Kei liked to surround himself with chipper people, but he couldn’t think of a reason that he would come all this way just to talk to him face-to-face. They’ve texted in the past so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to do so again.

“I wanted to talk to you about Kei. I think you’re going to break his heart and I don’t want to see my little brother hurt.”

“What?” he said at full volume. Kei shifted on top of him. “What?” he said again, softer.

“You’re leaving. Is he ready for that? You know how he is.”

He looked at his sleeping boyfriend. Kei was being extra clingy lately and extra passive-aggressive towards others but he had just chalked that up to Kei taking a long time to warm up to new people and his new environment, not a direct response to his inevitable departure. Shoyou groaned. 

“How do I get him ready?” 

Akiteru shrugged, “Kei doesn’t have the best self-esteem, my fault as well, so he might take your leaving personally. I’m sure he logically knows that you’re not trying to get away from him, but it also hurts to know that you didn’t factor him into your decision.”

“I… this doesn’t have anything to do with him.” 

“That’s the problem, Shoyou. Kei is methodical and thinks ahead and you went into this without considering him. Personally, I don’t think you’re being selfish of anything, I know you’re doing something amazing to better yourself, just like Kei is studying hard, but… argh, I don’t know what I’m saying. Don’t forget about my brother when you leave.”

Akiteru had taken a few steps forward while he was talking until he was standing directly over them.

“Don’t act like everything is fine right now and leave and let him fall apart. Because Kei doesn’t trust people easily and you’ll break him.”

Tears threatened to fall from both of their eyes. Shoyou nodded over and over and held Kei a bit tighter.

“I’ll try and prepare him the best I can.”

Akiteru’s demeanor changed, like a weight was lifted off his shoulder and a deep sense of uncomfortableness had set in. “Shoyou. My brother’s happiness isn’t your responsibility but I hope you forgive me for trying to protect it.”

\--

Kei never really cared about high school, he never tried that hard for his high school classes and he only needed to put in the barest amount of effort to get high marks. College, on the other hand, was different. The classes were harder and the people were smarter. He actually found that he enjoyed putting in the effort. 

It was like volleyball. If he enjoyed what he was doing then it was worth doing well and that meant putting in time and effort. 

The Anthropology class was his favorite because it was a stepping stone to Archeology classes. Professor Satoshi was strict and the most intelligent person Kei ever met; he often stayed after class to talk to her about her lecture. (Sometimes it was to clarify something and sometimes it was to geek out.) When he had to miss class because of a poorly timed volleyball game he occasionally found himself standing on the court thinking about what he was missing. And when he returned to class he dove right back into what he missed.

Unfortunately Haruka refused to take the hint that he didn’t want to date her or be her friend. She stayed back after class with him often enough that Professor Satoshi referred to her as his girlfriend once when they were talking. Kei tried to shut that down fast but Professor Satoshi gave him a knowing look as if saying you-two-lovebirds-can’t-fool-me. 

It was exhausting.

Perhaps the worst part was that Haruka was smart and in the same degree program so they had no choice but to run into each other for the next few years. It would be in Kei’s best interest to make nice with her but that wasn’t something she could stomach.

Once a week after class on Tuesdays Kei had to go directly from the classroom to the gym and Haruka tagged along.

“Did you start the paper that’s due in two weeks yet? I started mine but hit a block, I may switch topics,” she babbled. 

Kei shoved his hands into his pockets and let her trail after him. She had to take two steps for every one he took but the pace didn’t bother her or stop her from talking. Eventually they would round the corner and Shoyou would be waiting for him. On Tuesday Shoyou didn’t have his Portugese class so he did weight training and went to the gym a few hours to work on things on his own.

By the time Kei and Haruka arrived he would be flushed and sweaty but smiling nonetheless.

“Hey!” Haruka smiled and waved at Hinata because against Kei’s wishes they struck up a friendship. But Shoyou could make friends with a wet blanket. “How’s training coming along?”

Shoyou at least had the decency to smile up at Kei before striking up an animated conversation with the annoying girl who followed him here, “It’s going so good! I’m so much better at receiving now and I’m doing a ton more strength training and it’s making my jumping different and my spikes more difficult to block, right Tsukki?”

“Hmm? I guess so.” Kei feigned disinterest. He wanted to hear how Shoyou was doing but not if his account ended with ‘Tsukki’, which he took to calling him around Haruka mostly because it was annoying. 

“You’re such a jerk!” Shoyou laughed, “You know my spikes have been getting harder to block! I can see you glare at me from the other side of the net, y’know.” 

Haruka laughed too like she was part of the joke. 

“I have to get changed.” Kei turned his back to them and walked into the gym without waiting for a response, but he could hear them exchange goodbyes.

When Shoyou appeared at his side before he even made it to the locker room, Kei wanted to kiss him. That possessiveness stirred inside him. It must have shown because Shoyou bumped his arm and muttered “later” under his breath.

It took a bit longer for his nerves to settle.

He really enjoyed college. He really enjoyed collegiate volleyball. He really enjoyed Shoyou.

He really needed to work out his own insecurities. 

\--

When Kei woke up he was alone in bed, that in itself wasn’t unusual, Shoyou was often up with the sun to go for a run or to go to the gym. What was unusual was the off-key singing coming from the kitchen. 

He didn’t want to get out of bed and start the day, he never did, but if Shoyou was still home he needed to go and see what was wrong. Kei put on his glasses but didn’t bother putting on a shirt (they were both clingy sleepers and Shoyo ran hot enough that they often shed excess clothes) in hopes that the morning chill would help wake him up. Usually it just made him a bit grumpier, but mornings weren’t exactly chipper times anyway. 

As he trudged closer to the kitchen the caterwauling grew louder. Shoyou was too busy poking at something at the stove to notice Kei’s quiet entrance into the room. 

“You should just stick to volleyball.”

Shoyou jumped and threw the spatula on the floor, looking guilty. 

“Kei! You’re awake! What time is it? You’re usually not up yet, right? I was going to bring this to you.” His voice grew more frantic.

“Your shrieking and breakfast in bed, is it my birthday?” 

Shoyou scrunched up his nose at his boyfriend, he didn’t appreciate the sarcasm when he was genuinely trying to do something nice. But this was Kei and they’ve been together long enough for him to know that this was a roundabout way of asking what was going on. 

“It’s almost done, just you wait, it’ll be amazing.” 

When Shoyou turned around, Kei draped himself across his back. He slung his long arms over Shoyou’s shoulders and his fingertips were in perfect place to tease the skin of Shoyou’s stomach. They leaned heavily into each other and pretended that Shoyou’s head wasn’t getting sore from Kei’s chin and Kei’s back wasn’t protesting at the bended position he was holding himself in. 

“Why are you cooking for me? I usually don’t see you in the morning.” Kei slipped his hand up Shoyou’s shirt. 

“When I go to Rio I have to do all of the cooking on my own, and I can’t spend all my money on food. That wouldn’t be healthy and I couldn’t afford it! So I’m getting some practice now. I want to be prepared before I go.” 

He felt Kei stiffen behind him and bit his lip in disappointment when he disentangled them to sit at the kitchen table instead. “I’m not here to be a test subject. But speaking of practice and test, don’t you have a Portugese exam coming up?”

“Sim meu amor. Estou pronto.” Shoyou turned and smiled at him, “That means, yes my love. I’m ready!”

Kei pushed his glasses up his nose in an attempt to hide the blush he knew was coming. It took longer than he would like to admit to stop blushing every time Shoyou called him Kei, but the same was true in reverse at least. Now though, he could handle his name but he couldn’t handle any other term of endearment that Shoyou threw at him. It didn’t happen often enough for him to accustom himself to such terms and Shoyou used that against him. 

“Well your effort has been wasted. I don’t eat breakfast.” Kei placed his chin in his hand and waited for the inevitable freak out.

“Kei, you have to eat breakfast! How else will you get stronger? You’ll just be grumpy all day if you don’t eat.” 

“But you eat so much and you haven’t gotten any bigger.”

“Kei! You just watch, I’ll get bigger and stronger in Rio. I’ll show you the power of breakfast!” 

But Kei doesn’t rise to the bait and continues their familiar banter about under-eating and under-growing. Instead he mutters “whatever” under his breath and leaves to get dressed, leaving Shoyou in the kitchen confused about the turn that the morning took. 

Shoyou hovers a few feet from the front door while Kei puts his shoes on. Usually when he leaves early in the morning he says his quiet goodbye and kisses his still sleeping partner on the forehead. But now, was Kei really going to walk out without saying anything to him? 

As if hearing his thoughts, Kei turned sharply to glare at him but sighed and patted the floor next to him instead. The second Shoyou sat down, Kei was on top of him, tugging his hair to force him to look up and kissing him like he had something to prove. 

Shoyou braced himself with his arms as they toppled over and gasped when he felt the pull on his hair. Kei almost always treated him a bit roughly when it came to sex but it made his blood pump harder and made him want and after last night-- Kei crashed their mouths together and his lips were slick with strawberry scented chapstick that made Shoyou groan. He reached out to tangle himself with Kei but,

But it was over almost as soon as it started.

“I’ll see you at practice.” 

Shoyou lay slightly dazed and stared at the ceiling for a fraction of a second before launching himself at the door.

“That’s it? You’re going to storm out and then kiss me like that and then just leave without telling me what’s wrong?”

“Yes.”

-

“Wow Hinata, did you get a girlfriend?” 

Hinata finished taking off his shirt and looked up at Furukawa, one of the members of the college volleyball team that he didn’t know that well. He wasn’t even sure he could remember if he was a middle blocker or a wing spiker.

“Huh?” 

Furukawa’s loud pronouncement had drawn the attention of a few more players.

He whistled appreciatively, “I wish I had a freaky girlfriend like that? Where’d you find her? What’s her name?”

“Um, why do you think I have a girlfriend?” Hinata rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet as he looked at the guys surrounding him, trying to find any shred of a clue.

The other boys laughed like he was telling an hysterical joke. Shoyou squared his shoulders, not willing to be the butt of any joke, when he felt the tenderness of his right shoulder. He couldn’t discretely feel the spot with everyone looking at him so intently. Without any shame he touched where the soreness was the most noticeable. 

When the others began laughing again Shoyou knew that he must be turning a shade of red to rival his hair. But there under his fingertips were definitely teeth marks. Kei’s teeth from last night when he-- no, he couldn’t think about that here. 

He glanced over across the room where Kei usually got changed but he was trapped in conversation with Koganegawa and neither of them were paying attention to his predicament. 

“So what kind of freaky sex are you having to leave marks like that? You could take these to a dentist for a check-up.” 

He could feel how hot his cheeks were and he bit back a reply of how he didn’t actually have sex at least nothing penetrative and especially not in the way that you’re thinking because he begged and begged Kei to fuck him last night just like the bastard liked but he wouldn’t and the bite mark burned in the same way his face was burning right now but last night-- he coughed.

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

The guys hollered and cheered, “You found a hook-up to do something like that? You gotta tell me her name, or where you met her.”

“I don’t kiss and tell?” He turned his back to his pseudo-teammates and hunched over the locker. The moon necklace dangled around his neck and he was reminded that didn’t want them to connect the necklace and the bite to Tsukishima. 

When he glanced over at Kei again, he was looking back, eyes slightly wide behind his sports glasses and cheeks also turning pink. Kei broke their gaze to continue talking to Koganegawa and Shoyou took that as a loud and clear message. He knew that Kei didn’t want to come out at college just yet, especially around the team when he didn’t know how they would react. They knew that the two of them shared an apartment together but if they found out that Shoyou is bisexual they may also find out that Kei is gay. 

So he clutched the shirt he was planning on wearing to his chest to hide the pendant and smiled widely at the group before him, “but it was good.” 

It was the right thing to say because they erupted again, hooting and laughing and slapping his back in congratulations. But Furukawa wasn’t joining in on the festivities. 

“There’s one thing I don’t understand. What kind of position were you in to get a bite mark at that angle?” 

Shoyou bit his bottom lip to stifle any unwanted sound. He couldn’t say that he was pushed face down into the mattress begging please Kei, please just this once, while Kei grinded slick with lube against his ass and reminded him of his own rule of no penetrative sex before practices or games so they could be at their best. He couldn’t say that he begged while Kei whispered all the things he could be doing if he didn’t impose that rule. He couldn’t say that Kei bit down on his shoulder and dug his teeth in when he was close and that he was so turned on by Kei using his body to get off that he didn’t feel any pain. He couldn’t say that Kei took a picture of his back so he could see himself marked with Kei’s semen and teeth, and how he touched it reverently before they deleted it. He couldn’t say that after Kei cleaned up his back he rolled him over and blew him until he came too.

But he could smirk (a poor imitation of his boyfriend) and say, “I guess you just haven’t had a lot of sex.” 

The others burst out again and started ribbing on Furukawa who stuttered and attempted to defend his honor.

Shoyou used the distraction to turn back to the locker. He didn’t want to think about how he didn’t get what he wanted last night, or about how Kei roughly kissed him this morning, because otherwise he was not going to be able to get through this practice in one piece. 

He put on a new shirt, covering the mark and ending the conversation.

“Alright! Who's ready to play volleyball!” 

-

“Hey, Tsukki!.”

“What do you want, Kogane?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Kogane lowered his voice, “I thought you and Sho--”

Kei cut him off before he could say anything outloud and be overheard. “We are.”

Kogane watched Shoyou try and fend off some of the other players while Kei changed his regular glasses out for his sports glasses. “In high school”

“Stop.” he held a hand up, “We were dumb and lucky. I’m trying to be smart. I know that a lot of people know, I also trust them to be discrete.” 

He held Kogane’s gaze with a sharp glare until he gulped and nodded. 

“Are you going to hit my tosses today, Tsukki?”

He sighed as they walked out of the locker room together, leaving Shoyou to deal with the problem he created, “Don’t call me that. But try tossing to me a little bit higher. A little bit, do you understand that?” 

-

When practice was over they usually walked home together when Shoyou wasn’t putting in extra hours (although his extra hours tended to be before official meet time nowadays), but this time Kei changed faster than normal and slipped out before Shoyou could notice. 

Kei walked home as fast as his legs could carry him without breaking into a job. If he wasn’t physically running away from the gym he could pretend that he was still the picture of calm, that he thought Shoyou was staying behind for one more toss, that he wasn’t avoiding a conversation about coming out or being possessive. 

His face burned with frustration (but it’s just from exertion from practice, he told himself). He hated listening to people he was supposed to learn to trust joke around with his boyfriend about who he was sleeping with and knowing that the only reason Shoyou wasn’t proudly showing him off was because he wasn’t ready. 

Shoyou was an idiot who trusted every single person he met. This was the city, much more dangerous than the mountain towns they were accustomed to. But sometimes when they were out together he would catch Shoyou looking at two men holding hands with a faraway look in his eyes. Neither of them ever brought it up.

Kei didn’t want to bring it up. 

Shoyou left the locker room to a chorus of whistles telling him to enjoy another night with his mystery girlfriend and instead of being embarrassed he was relieved that Kei didn’t hear the continued ribbing. 

He was not relieved to see that Kei left without him, but he was positive he could catch up. Kei never did anything that looked uncool, and running home would probably count as uncool in his book. Luckily Shoyou had no such reservations and even preferred to run places to get in the extra cardio.

At his top speed it didn’t take too long to catch up to Kei and his long strides. 

“TSUKISHIMA KEI!”

Kei froze in his tracks as Shoyou launched himself on to his back. They collided with a loud thunk, the force pushed Kei forward a few steps but he regained his balance preventing them from toppling over onto the sidewalk and creating an even bigger spectacle. 

“What the fuck, you complete idiot! You could have hurt me!”

“You’re avoiding me! Why are you avoiding me!” 

“Sho,” Kei sighed and pushed his glasses up his forehead so he could rub his eyes, “we live together. Stop shouting in my ear and get off my back.”

“We’re talking when we get home.” Shoyou said with a sense of finality that even Kei didn’t want to argue with. 

He jumped off his back and led the way back to their apartment. 

The walk back was quiet and awkward in a way that was reminiscent of when they first started dating and didn’t know how to act around each other. Back then the apprehension was almost cute in how shy they were, now it was a painful reminder of how bad they could be at communicating with each other.

Shoyou rounded on him the second the apartment door clicked closed.

“You’re mad at me because they said I had a girlfriend.” He jabbed a finger into Kei’s chest. It wasn’t a question, it was hardly an accusation, it was just a statement. 

“Maybe you should go get a girlfriend instead!” Kei snapped at him as he walked down the hall.

Shoyou scrunched up his nose, “What? Just because I’m bisexual doesn’t mean I also want a girlfriend. I don’t have time, you’d be way too jealous, and I’m leaving soon.”

“Exactly. You’re leaving me soon.”

This time when Shoyou tackled Kei they collapsed on the hallway floor with an angry crash. Kei’s forearms hit the floor hard bracing his fall but his glasses were still knocked off his face due to the force of the impact.

Kei laid on the floor with his head in his hands, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself and waiting for Shoyou to start profusely apologizing but the apology didn’t come. Instead Shoyou sat himself on his upper back to try and keep him down. 

“You’re really adamant about physically assaulting me today.”

“Are you breaking up with me? You know I don’t have a girlfriend or want one and that I’m happy with you and that you don’t have anything to do with me leaving.” Kei kept his head buried in his arms so Shoyou kept talking. “I know that probably doesn’t feel good to hear either? I’m trying to take my next step. College was your next step, you’re brilliant. I need to prove I can do things without Kageyama there and I know you think I’m going into this blindly but I have a whole training plan in place for beach and I have an indoor team to join too. But Kei, I thought that you were going to be really busy becoming an archeologist and it would be okay.” 

“Can I at least roll over if you’re going to sit on me?” 

Shoyou shifted a little so Kei could roll on to his back and sat down on his chest. He didn’t often get to see Kei without his glasses and he could tell that Kei didn’t like the situation, both because he couldn’t hide the redness of his eyes and because he had to squint. But the glasses were too far out of reach and he wasn’t getting up. 

“You’re going to the other side of the world. When we’re both busy here we can still coordinate seeing each other, but you’re going to the other side of the world. And you’re so excited about leaving me.”

“We can plan video chats so we can see each other.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Kei made a displeased face, “I can’t touch you through a phone. I can’t touch you for two years. I know how tactile you are, I won’t blame you if you want to break up so you can date in Rio.”

Shoyou slammed his hands down on either side of Kei’s head. “Shut up! Kei you’re such an idiot! I’m not happy about leaving you, I don’t want to break up, I want to keep seeing you everyday. I hate that I got to live with you and sleep with you every dayI’m going to have to go be by myself. So stop being dumb. Use your big brain and figure out what we can do.”

Kei sat up suddenly, unseating Shoyou from his chest and knocking him into his lap. “I’ll figure it out.”

Shoyou tried to praise his newfound determination but Kei pushed him back on the floor to kiss him.

\--

“Ugh, who let you in here.”

Kuroo grinned at him like the cat that caught the canary, “Shorty invited Kenma over and I tagged along. Word of warning, you’re being set up.”

Kei furrowed his brow, “Set up?” 

“Kenma doesn’t know either. I’m here to see this blow up in Shorty’s face.” 

“Set up with Kenma? By Shoyou?”

Kei looked back at the front door and wondered if he stepped into an alternate dimension. Or if he could simply leave and avoid whatever chaos was waiting for him in the next room. But as luck would have it, Shoyou with his bright eyes and bright smile bounded up to him and pulled him down for a quick kiss.

“You’re home!” 

“There are people here. I’m going to go study at the library.” He made to go back to the door.

“No!” 

He pushed away his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It had been a long day of classes and dodging Haruka and he had a lot of work to do over the weekend, he didn’t have any time to play whatever game this was that somehow involved him and Kenma and not him and Shoyou in bed. 

“I mean, Kenma and Kuroo are here. You should spend time with them.” Shoyou grabbed his hand and pulled him into the living room. Kei let himself be led but his mind was working, Shoyou said you should spend time with them, not we should spend time with them. Was he planning on leaving? What kind of setup was this? 

He was pushed on the couch next to Kenma who grinned at him like he knew something that Kei didn’t. Kei lowered his eyes but Kenma simply met his gaze with an amused expression. 

“Shoyou invited me over to play games but he really wants us to be friends while he’s gone because you don’t have any.”

Kei glared at Shoyou who was hiding behind an openly laughing Kuroo. “I have friends. I don’t need your pity. And you” he turned to Kenma who had taken out his phone and started playing a game, “you’re okay with being lied to like this?”

“I wasn’t lied to per se. Shoyou wasn’t very subtle. But you’re not an idiot and you’re quiet so if Shoyou wants us to sit in a room together for a few hours then…” he shrugs as he trails off. 

Kei thought about saying something rude back but he knew that Kenma was sponsoring Shoyou while he was in Brazil and he didn’t want to risk anything. Instead he turned to his no-longer-cowering boyfriend. 

“Kei!” he squeaked out, “I didn’t want you to be lonely.” 

“I have friends,” he repeated. Kuroo chuckled. 

Shoyou frowned. “I know that you text a few people but you don’t see anyone and when I’m going the apartment is going to be empty too! So I asked Kenma if maybe he would come around sometimes.”

Kei pulled Shoyou into his lap and whispered, “are you setting me up on dates, Shoyou?” 

Shoyou gasped loudly, “don’t you dare!” 

“I will be fine on my own. But if it makes you feel any better I will try and see more people.”

\--

Kei was looking up at Shoyou. Or as up as they could in this position. Kei was sitting on the couch, slouching rather than his usual impeccable posture so he could lean his head back and still comfortably be on the couch, and Shoyou was standing on his knees straddling his lap so he could hover over Kei’s head and ransom kisses. Even sitting down Shoyou had a hard time towering over his ridiculously tall boyfriend.

They were in their own world of quick little kisses, nothing more than the brush of lips, interspersed with long kisses that ended with them panting against each other’s mouths.

“Tell me.” Shoyou dragged his nails against Kei’s scalp, pulling his hair slightly to get him to tilt his head back further.

“No.”

“Tell me.” He pressed a light kiss to Kei’s mouth. When he pulled away Kei tried to follow after but Shoyou still had a hold of his hair. 

“Even when you’re pretending to be powerful I can make you beg. You’re so easy.” 

Shoyou growled and leaned down for another heated kiss. He wasted no time parting his lips so he could tease Kei’s bottom lip with his tongue just how he liked. Kei moaned at the sensation and gripped Shoyou’s thighs harder in an attempt to pull him closer.

But Shoyou pulled back and it was with a mischievous grin and a playful glint in his eye, “then I won’t kiss you or touch you at all tonight.”

Kei glowered at him. “You wouldn’t dare.” 

“Oh please, dare.”

Their heads shot to the entrance of the room where Tadashi stood with bags of cleaning supplies. He grinned at their matching blushes but neither of them was making a move to change their compromising position. 

“I thought you’d like some help cleaning up for the party tonight. I let myself in.”

Kei groaned. “I’m revoking your key privileges.”

-

There were way too many people in his apartment, he was sure to get a noise complaint and then he would get thrown out and his mother would find out Shoyou was living with him and that he was gay and he would have nowhere to live. He was catastrophizing. That was new. 

But it was Shoyou’s going away party and Shoyou managed to make friends with everyone he spoke to no matter the circumstance (It was a weird superpower and Kei hated it), so the apartment was packed. 

Not only was it his going away party, his flight left tomorrow night. Shoyou planned this for the last possible day and Kei could feel his palms itch with possessiveness as he watched his boyfriend go around the room to talk to and hug everyone. He wanted to wrap around him and not let go. He wanted to--

“If looks could kill, everyone in this room would be dead.” Tadashi said amusedly as he bumped shoulders with his best friend. 

“I’m not going to be good company tonight,” Kei grumbled.

Tadashi snorted into his drink, “When are you ever good company? Tonight you’re just going to be extra grumpy and horny.”

Kei turned to him with a horrified expression.

“That’s the kind of aura you give off.” Tadashi shrugged like he said something completely normal.

“I do not.”

“So you don’t want to drag Shoyou away from everyone and into your bedroom? I saw you earlier.”

“Shut up, Tadashi. Why does everyone think you’re so nice?”

Tadashi laughed and let out a terribly ungenuine “Sorry, Tsukki.”

-

A drink appeared in front of him and he took it without a second thought. 

“How are you fairing?” Hitoka sat down next to him with her own drink. She always knew what he needed, it made her a wonderful manager during their time together. 

He glared out towards the room where Shoyou was laughing loudly with Kogane, Ennoshita, and some college friend he must have made because Kei didn’t recognize him from volleyball.

“That well, huh.”

The best thing about Hitoka was she was able to sit quietly with him and have a calming effect. He watched Shoyou bounce from person to person and excitedly have the same conversation over and over again. It was almost nice to watch him and it was nice to have her company. 

The worst thing about her was she knew how to hit where it hurt. 

“Tadashi told me you’re not taking him to the airport tomorrow.” 

Kei let her words hang in the air for a long moment. 

“Nothing good will come with me at the airport.”

-

Kageyama had his arm slung over Shoyou’s shoulder and that was all Kei could focus on. He knew that people were trying to talk to him, namely Kuroo and Bokuto who, years later, were still fascinated with him like he was a shiny new toy. They would forgive him later for being rude and he could stand their merciless teasing, but he could not stand how Shoyou hadn’t given him as much as a glance since people started arriving.

His fingernails dug crescent moons into his palms as he tried to keep himself together. He knew that he could be clingy and possessive. He knew that Shoyou didn’t mind these things and, in fact, took them as weird forms of I love you. But he also knew that others judged him for it, and he didn’t need to be criticized for taking Shoyou away from his friends at his going away party. 

“Just go over there.” A bored looking Kenma appeared at his side with his Switch in hand. “You can stand with him without taking him over.”

Kei looked up at the ceiling. “Am I really obvious tonight?”

Kenma shrugged. “I know you don’t like Kageyama, that you and Shoyou are overly touchy, and that he’s leaving tomorrow and you don’t like it. It wasn’t hard to put together.” Kenma fiddled with the Switch when Kei didn’t answer, “Shoyou told me he put my contact info in your phone. I’m in your area a few times a month, we can exist in a room together to make him happy.”

Kenma glanced up at Kei through his hair and they nodded at each other. They were acquaintances at best but like most people in this room, they would do anything for Shoyou.

“I need to…” he gestured towards Shoyou and Kageyama and Kenma nodded again. It was the closest thing to a goodbye either of them was going to give or get.

Kei dodged a few more conversations on the way, most people understood when he gestured towards Shoyou and kept walking, those who didn’t understand chalked it up to him being rude as usual. For once his reputation of having a terrible personality was paying off.

When he reached the weird duo he lifted Kageyama’s wrist with two fingers like he didn’t want to touch him, muttered “excuse me, your majesty” and brushed aside his arm before wrapping his own arms around Shoyou’s waist and pulling him to his chest. Shoyou didn’t stop talking the whole time. 

Kei buried his face in Shoyou’s hair to block out the surrounding party. This was fine. He was holding Shoyou and not interfering with any socializing. If Shoyou wanted to move, Kei would come too, or even better they could stay there and people could come to them. Was he always this pathetic?

Shoyou was talking about the indoor team he was going to join in Rio and how the first Portugese he learned was volleyball terms. Kei tightened his arms and moved his fingers so he could touch skin. 

“Breathe, idiot.” Kageyama scolded Shoyou who was going a mile a minute and most likely not getting as much oxygen as he should, especially with his newly attached Kei-shaped vice. 

He laughed loudly, “I’m breathing Bakayama! I’m just excited it’s finally here!” He must have felt Kei tense behind him because he immediately backpedaled a few steps, “Not that I’m not also not upset to be leaving? I’m going to miss everyone.” 

Kei bent over so he could whisper “I love you” in his ear. His lips were warm against Shoyou’s ear and he leaned back heavily as if to acknowledge he heard what he was trying to get Kei to say to him earlier. 

“Tobio, can you get me another drink?”

Kageyama looked at the two of them suspiciously but Kei was still folded in on Shoyou and it was difficult to get a read on him and anything he could be scheming. When he walked away and the two of them immediately started kissing he loudly grumbled about gross idiots, because he knew he was being sent away for a reason, he wasn’t that dumb. You can only fall for the same trick so many times.

“I love you too,” Shoyou whispered back, quickly breathless from a scorching kiss they were trying to pour all of their passion and grief into.

“I’m going to fuck you tonight.” Kei murmured against his lips. 

Shoyou pulled back. “Kei, you can’t just say things like that!” he exclaimed loudly. Then leaned in and spoke much softer, “People are staying here tonight.” 

Kei shrugged, “poor planning on their part. And your part. Everyone should have known.”

Shoyou didn’t get a chance to retort because Kageyama came back with a drink as well as their former teammates, Daichi, Suga, and Tanaka. 

Suga pulled him into a hug like he wasn’t literally in an embrace with his boyfriend, and Shoyou eagerly hugged him back, smiling all the while.

“I didn’t know you guys would make it here!” he said, switching to hugging a startled Daichi then chest bumping Tanaka before Kageyama handed him a drink. He stared at the drink for a second, then Kageyama, who glared at him, when he remembered he sent Kageyama to get him this. 

Kei stood awkwardly on the outskirts of their newly made circle. Daichi was talking to Shoyou about something but the room around them was just loud enough that he couldn’t hear what was being said. He twisted his fingers and wondered where he should go, he could join them and keep his hands on Shoyou or he could go find Tadashi.

When he looked up Suga was waving him over with a pleased smile. He knew that Suga would tease him about something or other, but it would be lighthearted and friendly. That was something he could deal with right now. 

Decision made, he joined the group and wrapped his arms back around Shoyou’s waist and put his fingertips just up the hem of his shirt so he could touch skin. 

“Oh, Daichi,” Suga said, hand to his cheek and faraway look in his eyes, “of all of our kohai who would have guessed that it would be Tsukishima who was big into PDA. My, when you first walked into our humble gym we thought you had a heart made of ice and a terrible, yet still redeemable, attitude.”

Shoyou laughed as Kei grumbled, “What are you, my aunt?” 

“I still don’t get it,” Tanaka interjected loudly, “you guys make no sense. I mean, what the hell? You didn’t even like each other in first year when you started dating and you’re still together! What the hell?” 

They froze. It had been a long time since someone had questioned their relationship so directly and to both of them at once. They were no stranger to someone pulling them aside and asking about their relationship. Shoyou could, would, and has waxed poetic about Kei to people who thought he was too cold or too stiff, and Kei usually intimated people into apologizing for asking. But rarely did someone come up to them and say they thought their practically three year relationship was nothing.

And rarely did someone question them so soon after they had questioned it, reaffirmation aside. Kei tightened his grip on Shoyou and tried not to dig his nails into his side.

Daichi slapped Tanaka on the back. “You don’t have to understand it, you just have to know that they’re happy and be happy for them.” He nodded at them and Kei guessed he felt the sudden rise in tension and this was his way of breaking it. He was still a great captain. 

Kei smirked at Tanaka, a look his former teammate knew all too well, “You’re just jealous. Still haven’t found a girlfriend?”

“Argh! You have as bad an attitude as ever Tsukishima!” 

With that the rest of the tension was broken. Kei let out a breath and leaned a bit heavier on Shoyou who simply adjusted his stance to account for the extra weight.

-

In the wee hours of the morning when the party was winding down, the five original Karasuno first years found themselves standing in a circle together. It had been too long since they were all together like this, long past were the days when they saw each other for hours every day. It was odd, for all of them, to no longer think of the others as their teammates. 

“Let’s not get nostalgic,” Hitoka sniffed, her eyes already welling with tears, “We will all be together again when Shoyou comes back.” 

Kei didn’t want to say anything. He was hiding his face in Shoyou’s hair again and both his hands were up his shirt. He rid himself of any pretense that he didn’t want to touch and let himself, but he had a drink first as an excuse. It was easy to ignore everyone else when he could focus on the way Shoyou’s skin felt on his palms as he ran his hands across his abdomen and sides. 

“The rest of us can still meet up.” Yamaguchi piped up, “We’re not too far from each other. It’s not like we’ll stop talking because Shoyou is gone.”

“When’s your flight again? When do you want us here?”

Shoyou wasn’t listening. He had closed his eyes some time ago and was concentrating on the feeling of Kei’s hands and their rhythmic movements. Every so often he would brush against the waistband of his pants and Shoyou’s breath would catch. But he could feel eyes on him.

“Huh?” 

“You two are disgusting.” Kageyama scoffed, “No one wants to see this.”

Tadashi chuckled behind his hand, “Get a room.”

Shoyou suddenly stood up straighter, jostling Kei from his comfortable position, “Kei. Kei, we have a room. Let’s go.” He untangled himself from Kei, grabbed his hand, and pulled him away from the party, away from their friends. 

“I’ll just let everyone know the party is over then?” Tadashi called after them, but they didn’t hear. 

-

Their bedroom was quiet, a nice change of pace from the din of the party outside. Kei thought about pushing Shoyou against the door and kissing him senseless but he held back and climbed on the bed instead. He knew that Shoyou was watching him. 

Kei crawled across the bed and positioned himself against the headboard. “Come here, Shoyou.”

He scrambled to get into Kei’s lap as fast as he could, straddling his lap and watched half-lidded as Kei licked his lips.

“You’re so mean, you’ve been touching me all night.” Shoyou ran both his hands through Kei’s hair and buried his face in his neck. “You’ve been driving me crazy.”

“Oh?” Kei said smugly, “Do you want me to touch you now?”

Shoyou grit his teeth, “I swear to god if you make me beg.” He grinded their hips together to further make his point. 

“Say it.”

His resolve broke quickly, “Please. Please, Kei. Please touch me. I need you to touch me. Please, now.”

There was a knock at the door.

Kei cupped Shoyou’s cheek to tilt his head up and slipped his thumb in his mouth. Their breath shallowed. They were often intimate with each other but only rarely had penetrative sex, and tonight was a promise they intended to keep. 

The second knock was louder. “It turns out if someone has a goodbye party, people want to say goodbye to them before they leave.”

Shoyou groaned and bit Kei’s thumb gently. “I need to say bye to people. Stay here.” He kissed his palm and with that he was out the door. 

It took thirty minutes for him to come back. After about ten minutes Kei started to get frustrated that Shoyou was pulled away from him again so he checked his phone, then made a to-do list for his classes for the upcoming week, and tried not to doze while he stared at the ceiling and waited. He was being amazingly patient for someone who couldn’t keep his hands to himself earlier.

After way too long Shoyou came barreling in and slammed the door behind him. He leaned on the door and took a deep breath. 

“Good news. Tadashi arranged for most of the people who were going to stay here to stay with other people. The only person who is still here is Kenma because he would be really uncomfortable anywhere else and I told him he could stay. He said that he had really good headphones with him and that he was going to take an early train to Tokyo in the morning so he was only going to be here for a few more hours anyway.”

Kei stared at him. He was fairly certain Shoyou said all of that in one breath. 

“Stop talking about other people and get over here.”

\--

Kei was not going to take any more chances, with Shoyou pinned on the bed underneath him there was no way for him to get up and attend to any other matter that may pop up between now and when Kei decides to let him go. Shoyou’s eyes grow heavy with lust when he realizes he’s stuck.

“You’re mine,” Kei whispers hotly in his ear and gently sucks on his earlobe. It’s not Shoyou’s favorite sensation and they both know it but he closes his eyes and tenses because he knows what’s going to happen next.

Kei releases his earlobe and travels downwards to his neck. Shoyou shivers as Kei lightly trails his nose over the sensitive skin and teases him with his breath. He squirms underneath him but experience has taught him that if he tells Kei to get on with it he inevitably ends up waiting longer, and he wants right now. He’s rewarded for his patience when Kei presses an open mouth kiss right below his ear.

Shoyou gasps and his hand flies to cling to the short hairs on the back of Kei’s neck. This was fast. He was expecting something akin to butterfly kisses. So when Kei’s tongue and teeth press against his neck, he can’t hold back his moan. He feels Kei smile against his neck and he bites him harder, worrying the skin between his teeth to leave an impressive purple mark.

He begins to repeat the process on the other side and Shoyou tilts his head to accommodate him. Kei kisses his neck until Shoyou’s grip on his hair tightens, silently pleading for him to continue. 

They were lucky that their interests aligned. After a few incidents of heavy petting Shoyou had shyly approached Kei and asked if they could try something different and the conversation ended with him shouting that just because he was small he didn’t need to be treated like he was breakable so could he please at least pull his hair or something. Kei was equally apprehensive weeks later when he asked Shoyou if he could bite him and later when they were making out he almost came when he bit Shoyou’s shoulder and he pleaded for him to do it harder. 

With Shoyou pulling him closer Kei sinks in his teeth and sucks on the skin until he forms a matching mark.

“You’re so good at taking this, Sho-chan,” he murmurs as he roughly rakes his fingers through Shoyou’s hair, “I’m going to give you lots more.”

He moans and arches his back as Kei moves down closer to the base of his neck. It would be impossible for Shoyou to catalog everywhere Kei has ever marked him but he wouldn’t be surprised if Kei had that knowledge stored away somewhere and was going to attempt to create a masterpiece on his skin. And in true Kei fashion, he would touch him as little as possible while he did it. 

“Kei, I already begged,” he swallows hard. 

Kei shifts to the other side of his neck again to form a matching mark for the bruise blooming at the base of his neck. Shoyou thinks he’s going to pull his hair again but Kei’s hand leaves his hair and brushes against his lips. He opens his mouth eagerly and grabs two fingers with his tongue. 

Kei pauses against Shoyou’s neck to take a sharp breath. Shoyou was always surprising him. He slowly moved his fingers in and out of his mouth and felt the vibrations as Shoyou moaned around them. He needed to take off Shoyou’s shirt so he could continue but he looked so enticing already. Kei let him pant around his fingers for only a few more strokes. 

He whined loudly.

“I need to take off your shirt.”

Shoyou squirmed out of his shirt like it was burning his skin. Kei sat back on Shoyou’s hips eliciting another moan and a small scolding about not moving, so he could see his work. The corners of his mouth quirked upwards, it would be impossible for him to hide the bites, and they both knew he wasn’t done. 

Kei leaned forward and kissed the fading marks on his shoulders. There were two on each, all in different stages of healing and fading away. He ran his hands up and down his shoulders and neck just to watch him shiver again and again.

“Please, please, please, do something, let me do something. Please, Kei.” He had his eyes screwed shut.

He ran the pads of his thumbs over his eyelids until they smoothed out, “Look at me.” Shoyou didn’t need to be told twice. Wide eyes looked up at him. “What do you want?”

He frowned, “Why are you asking? I know you have a plan already, do that.”

Kei searched his eyes for any sign of hesitation but found nothing but determination and lust, “I’m going to ruin your first week at the beach.”

Shoyou licked his lips and his breath shallowed, “Please, you can do better than that.”

At the challenge he clawed eight red lines down his chest and abs and went back refreshing the lovebites on his shoulders. They both knew that the scratches would most likely fade by morning but they marked the end of the conversation. What wouldn’t fade by morning were the crescent moons his fingernails were leaving behind on Shoyou’s hips while he tried to hold him down, but the harder he squeezed and the more he punished with his teeth, the more Shoyou had to get some kind of release.

Shoyou reached for Kei’s pants and managed to unbutton them before Kei swatted his hands away. He did, though, break Kei’s composure, because Kei began kissing him instead of working on his master plan and finally grinded their erections together. Everything else faded away and they were just lips and hips and doing everything they could to press into each other just a little bit more.

Kei was the first one to moan. It was the hottest sound Shoyou had ever heard and he wanted to savour it for as long as possible. Kei didn’t do it a lot, if he was making noise in the bedroom it was dirty talk or praise. But for now they could enjoy the feeling of trying to be closer to one another. Until. “Shut up, Shoyou. Stop it. Be good.”

And he froze. He froze until Kei licked his bicep and it was too close to his armpit. He was ticklish and needed to stifle a giggle. “Choose somewhere else, please, that tickles.”

Shoyou could see Kei’s ears tinge pink before he spoke up again, “No. It smells like you. Deal with it.” 

He laughed through the whole thing and threatened to push Kei away but never followed through. The more he thrashed the longer it took but in the end they were both smiling and Kei decided to be kind for once and not do the other side. 

In an attempt to salvage the mood he took one of Shoyou’s nipples in his mouth, rolling it gently with his tongue and scraping his teeth against it lightly. His nipples weren’t that sensitive, years of them being chaffed would do that to a person, but he loved watching Kei suck on his nipples until they were red and puffy and he was begging Kei to move on. 

Kei scooted down so he was sitting on Shoyou’s hips and bit down on his side near his waist. Shoyou groaned and Kei swatted his stomach in response, he knew the groan was annoyance and not arousal. 

“You’re still wearing all your clothes,” he complained.

Kei pulled on the skin of Shoyou’s side with his teeth until he hissed, “Would my being naked make this easier for you?” 

Shoyou groaned again, arousal this time, “No… but go faster, I don’t care if it hurts. I need you in me soon.”

He licked his lips and nodded. On the other side of his waist he licked Shoyou’s side and hovered until he heard his breath catch in anticipation, then bit him much harder than usual. Shoyou shouted and his body jolted as if it was trying to get away from the source of the pain but he also grabbed Kei’s hair to hold him there. 

Kei was supporting himself with one of his arms depending on which side of Shoyou he was leaning on and had the other scratching at his opposite side, but when he jolted Kei grabbed on to the waistband of Shoyou’s pants, his fingers so close to brushing against Shoyou’s erection. When he relaxed his body and realized where Kei’s hand was he tried to subtly shift his hips so Kei would touch him.

But Kei sat back at that moment to look at the new mark. It was cruder than the others and in some places he worried that he broke skin but he made eye contact with Shoyou and noticed that his eyes kept flickering down to his mouth. His lips were probably red and there was saliva dripping down his chin. He tried to wipe it away but Shoyou’s hand shot out to stop him and instead pulled him forward.

Shoyou caught his head and kissed him, saliva and all. “You’re so hot. How are you so hot?”

They breathed the same air back and forth, “I need you to take your pants off for the next part. Stomachs, hips, thighs.”

He started undoing his pants and pushing them down his hips along with his underwear. He had never been so eager to get undressed that his pants were getting tangled around his knees. When he was fully naked Kei sat back on his thighs again and took in the sight. His eyes lingered on his erection, full and dripping, and he had to take a deep breath to compose himself. 

“Please, Kei. Touch me. Please. You have to. Please.” 

But Kei leaned over and nipped at his muscular stomach. He was less concerned about leaving anything here, it was a tricky area, and instead he enjoyed how Shoyou rutted against the brush of his dangling shirt, a pale imitation of a touch. He hovered there until Shoyou whined in frustration. 

Pinning his hips after letting him have free reign for a bit gave him a small thrill. Or maybe it was the small ‘fuck’ Shoyou muttered under his breath. Either way he went at his hips the same way he did his side, wasting no time and letting Shoyou squirm helplessly underneath him and grab at his hair. He took a bit of extra time on the hips, he wanted Shoyou to feel it tomorrow, so no matter where his pants sat he was at least a little bit sore and reminded of Kei between his legs.

Without any kind of preamble or warning, Kei pulled away from his hips in a swift motion that had Shoyou automatically releasing his hair and licked up Shoyou’s erection with the flat of his tongue from base to tip.

“Ready?” he purred, hooking one of Shoyou’s legs over his shoulder and watching it quiver.

Shoyou didn’t answer. He watched Kei with dazed half-lidded eyes and licked his lips. His mind was buzzing and his sides were on fire in stark contrast to the soft nuzzling on his thighs. No matter what answer he gave the same thing would follow. So he watched. 

Kei didn’t notice the lack of an answer, he was distracted. He loved Shoyou’s thighs, they were gloriously toned from the amount of running and jumping he did on a daily basis. The first time he got his mouth on them Shoyou went hoarse begging to be touched but Kei wasn’t even trying to tease him, he simply got lost. He wanted to get lost again. Shoyou’s thighs were a masterpiece that he was going to ruin.

Blindly he reached for one of Shoyou’s hands and brought it to his erection in a silent signal that he could touch himself because this was going to take a while and he eagerly took himself. But he only teasingly stroked up and down, using his own pre-come as lubricant, as Kei worked on one of his thighs-- licking, sucking, and biting him in multiple places with various amounts of force-- because it wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted Kei. 

When Kei switched sides he stopped touching himself altogether. He immediately regretted the decision when he felt Kei smile into his leg and significantly slow down his pace like he was planning on enjoying every square inch to the fullest. 

“Damnit, Kei,” he grumbled just loud enough to be heard.

Kei bit him hard, “Is that any way to get what you want?” 

Shoyou ran his hands down his face, “I’m so close to what I want, you’re already between my legs.” Kei slapped his thigh. “Ow! That hurt! You bruised my whole inner thigh, it’s gonna hurt to walk…”

“Good.”

“Kei,” he breathed out, “please. Please, I need you to touch me.”

Kei gave his thigh one last bite then draped his body over his much smaller boyfriend’s so he could whisper in his ear, “Good boy, Sho. You’ve been so good.” He took Shoyou in hand but didn’t move, “I’ll reward you. What do you want?” 

Shoyou was trembling underneath him, “Mouth?” But then Kei was off the bed. Shoyou shot up and grabbed the hem of his still fully dressed boyfriend’s shirt. “Where are you going?” 

“Lube.” He pointed to the desk on the opposite wall.

When he finally settled between Shoyou’s legs again he rested his head on his thigh and uncapped the bottle of lube. Liberally he coated two of his fingers before lightly, with a feather touch, trailed one down from tip to base then lower until he reached his entrance. The angle was awkward but Shoyou was flexible and lifted one of his knees to his chest. 

In thanks, Kei did not tease. He slipped in one finger to the first knuckle, then the second, and Shoyou was already trying to grind down on his finger, then-

“You’re so tight. Fuck, Sho--” His patience broke. 

He lifted himself up and took as much of Shoyou as he could into his mouth. Shoyou’s hips immediately jerked up and back down as he didn’t know which stimulation to chase after having been neglected for so long. 

Kei’s jaw was already tired from his previous activity but he jerked Shoyou at the base with his off hand to help control the rhythm that he was fucking into his mouth and then inserted another finger into him to immediately destroy that rhythm. He ground his hips down on Kei’s fingers trying to get more out of him than a shallow fucking.

“More, more, more,” he practically cried out. This was almost as frustrating as earlier, “I can’t come like this Kei, please let me.” 

Kei pulled off him entirely but stopped any complaints before they could fall from Shoyou’s lips by putting more lube on his fingers. He methodically traced circles around his entrance and watched Shoyou’s legs tense as he tried not to move. Shoyou could complain, but he was also so good to him. 

The first finger went in easily, he pistoned it in and out until he was at the third joint. At the next stroke his second finger joined but instead of the steady rhythm he set up he scissored him open instead. With that Shoyou couldn’t help but groan and clutch at the sheets.

“Ah, you can touch yourself if you’d like,” he sounded almost uninterested but Shoyou could see the blown pupils behind his glasses and the hungry look they contained and hear his haggard breathing.

Again Shoyou took himself in hand and cautiously stroked, wondering if this was a trap. But his hand was soon met by Kei’s mouth sucking eagerly at the tip of his penis and oh god he was going to jerk off into Kei’s mouth while he fingered him to prep. He could tell that Kei was three fingers deep by the burn but at this point what part of his body didn’t burn thanks to Kei’s ministrations.

Kei wouldn’t finger him in a rhythm he could match up to and every time he tried Kei changed it until Shoyou gave up and jerked himself in his preferred way to masturbate which earned him a hum of approval. The hum, of course, made him push himself further into Kei’s mouth away from his fingers, then he overcompensated for that and ground back down until Kei brushed against his prostate. 

He came down Kei’s throat while cursing his name.

Shoyou wanted to bask in the afterglow of his orgasm but Kei was finally stripping himself of all of his clothes. When he finally, finally, took off his underwear he was full and wet with pre-come. Kei grabbed himself at the base and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down but once he was touching himself he couldn’t help but stroke. 

“Sho, can I…?”

He nodded. He didn’t know what the rest of the question was but he nodded anyway. 

Kei didn’t hesitate. He lubed himself up, lined up at Shoyou’s entrance and pushed in. Shoyou’s body was soft and pliant against his, still feeling the effects of his orgasm, but he automatically hooked a leg around Kei’s back to hold him there.

“You feel so good.” He couldn’t move yet, he was still reeling and if he moved it was going to be over too soon.

“You fee’ goo’ too,” he was either pleasure-drunk or tired.

Kei rocked his hips and Shoyou let out a low, encouraging moan. They didn’t have penetrative sex often and they were both overwhelmed by the feeling. 

Shoyou grasped weakly at Kei’s hair, “Move, come, please.” 

He didn’t need to be told twice. He snapped his hips and knew he was going to be lucky if he lasted the next minute but Shoyou felt so good around him and he was making wonderful sounds and he wrapped both his legs around Kei and…

It felt a bit like it was over before it could start but he didn’t know how much time had passed between his actual orgasm and him coming back to his senses when Shoyou tried to tickle him. 

“I love you.”

They were sweaty and gross and covered in fluids but they held each other close and dozed off to sleep. 

-

When Kei wakes up Shoyou is still in bed asleep. He couldn’t remember a time where that ever happened but he also didn’t want to waste time trying. 

Shoyou was leaving today.

He reached over and traced Shoyou’s lips with his thumb, they were dry but plump and he was breathing his gross morning breath right into Kei’s face. As softly as he could, he kissed him, pressing chapped lips against chapped lips, sharing stale morning breath. There was no time for things like lip balm and they could brush their teeth later.

Shoyou’s breath was still even with sleep so he kissed him again, trying to steal every last second that he could. He could hear it like Shoyou was calling for a toss, one more, one more, one more. It was like that stupid game they played in high school where he kept asking again, again, again.

By now he was awake but he was letting Kei press kiss after kiss into his mouth until he pressed their foreheads together and left an unfortunate space between their mouths.

“Hey, I was enjoying those,” he fake grumbles.

Kei pulls Shoyou on top of him, “Shut up.”

From his position Shoyou can hear how hard Kei’s heart is pounding and feel the light tremble going through his body so he cuddles close and kisses where his mouth can reach and touches everywhere he can to try and say I’m-still-here. And Kei is doing the same, running his hands up and down Shoyou’s back, the flat of his palms, his fingertips, his nails, repeat. It’s soothing until his fingers travel to the curve of his behind and come back sticky.

“Oh,” Kei’s face heats up, “I’m sorry. I-- I didn’t use a condom and we didn’t clean up. I didn’t ask, we’ve never--”

“Ughh, how dare you be so hot so early in the morning. Don’t tell me what time it is.” Shoyou cuts him off before he can keep going, which is for the best. And it’s probably some time in the afternoon, close to when he has to leave.

“You don’t mind?”

Shoyou takes both of Kei’s hands and rests them on his ass, “So. Hot.”

Kei slaps his ass and it leaves a satisfying sting on his hand, not too dissimilar to volleyball. Shoyou lets out an undignified squeak but buries his face in Kei’s chest and asks for him to do it again. He soothingly rubs the spot he just hit before striking it again.

“Please keep doing that,” he whispers as he blindly searches for the bottle of lube that’s hidden somewhere in the bed. When he finds it he slicks up his palm and takes both himself and Kei in hand, best he can. Shoyou starts stroking them together and Kei taps the other cheek, it doesn’t make the same satisfying sound so he does it again in quick succession and Shoyou moans loudly. 

“Fuck, Sho,” he teases his entrance with a fingertip, “I can’t learn this about you right now.”

“Rough, good,” he bends himself in a weird way so his knee knocks the bottle of lube and gets Kei’s attention, “Finger me and spank me until I come.” 

Taking one out of Shoyou’s book, Kei’s eyes widen and he laughs, “Oh god, Sho, you can’t just say things like that.” 

\--

Kei and Shoyou finally stumbled out of their bedroom in late afternoon with their mouths still attached. 

“Oh.” Hitoka squeaked and covered her beet red face. Tadashi and Kageyama froze behind her.

The damage was already done though. In the few seconds between him being backed out of the room by Kei and shoved against the wall, she saw everything. The harsh red scratch marks down his back, the bite marks all over his neck and shoulders and sides and oh god she saw his thighs and they were a wreck and his still stinging-red butt.

“What are you doing here?”

Kageyama looked unimpressed, “You forgot. We told you we would be here at 16:00 to take you to the airport.”

Kei gripped Shoyou’s thigh and pulled him closer, “We’re going to take a shower. One of you make Shoyou something to eat for when we get out.” He didn’t wait for a reply.

Under the spray of hot water Kei lets the first tears fall. Shoyou looks up at him, there’s nothing he can say right now to make the situation better. He’s leaving. He’s leaving soon. So he lets the tears run until Kei washes them away.

Shoyou already removed his shower supplies the day before so he reached for Kei’s much fancier shampoo (that wasn’t also conditioner and body wash, unlike his all-in-one brand), but Kei swatted away his hand.

“Let me wash your hair.” 

Shoyou found himself blushing at the intimacy of the action as if they hadn’t just repeatedly been intimate. He nodded.

Kei’s fingers felt wonderful in his hair. His nails scratched lightly across his scalp in some places and massaged gently in others. The shampoo smelled like Kei. He was going to leave this shower clean but covered in reminders that someone loves him. Kei applied light pressure on his forehead and Shoyou tilted his head back so the bubbles could be washed away.

They repeated the process with the conditioner. Shoyou was never one for using conditioner, he preferred to shower as fast as he could without actually being negligent, but these were precious moments where maybe everything was okay.

Body wash was next. Kei grabbed his bath pouf and massaged body wash into it until bubbles started to form. Shoyou shivered when the scratchy material touched his shoulder and if this was any other time he would complain about being teased by how slow Kei was going. And he was taking his time, gently going over and admiring every mark he made, cataloging every stray freckle that his blind eyes could pick up. He dragged the pouf down his bicep, feeling the muscle he put on, down his forearms, down to his hands where he cleaned each individual finger.

“Kei.” It was a whimper, it couldn’t be called anything else.

He repeated the process on the other side, slow as ever. 

Kei brought the pouf to Shoyou’s neck and he was overwhelmed with the scent of the body wash. It was so dizzyingly Kei. His breathing grew shallow as Kei washed his chest and the material brushed repeatedly against his nipples. Then down more, his stomach and abs and hips which were all also littered with bites and being marked by Kei’s scent.

Shoyou watched his hands work. He couldn’t risk looking into Kei’s eyes and have arousal be met by grief. There was no way to miss Shoyou’s erection, Kei’s touch had that effect on him, but in his washing Kei was studiously not touching him. (Which, really, was a classic Kei move and not helping the situation.)

Kei pushed on his shoulder and Shoyou turned around so he could wash his back.

It was a repeat of the earlier process; he started at the base of his neck, worked his way down to the shoulder blades, and continued all the way down to his lower back before his hand stilled.

“Turn around for me again,” he mumbled, barely audible over the sound of the shower.

Shoyou turned and Kei went to his knees to begin cleaning his upper thighs.

“Kei.” It was a whine this time.

Kei continued to ignore him, he simply wiped at his inner thighs, tapped his inner ankles to get Shoyou to spread his legs a bit more, and accidentally brushed against him a few times. Shoyou moaned loudly and stroked himself a few times, when Kei didn’t stop him he did it a few more. But he stopped and bit his bottom lip. He wanted to tell Kei that he wanted to come on his face and then kiss him, but what he was doing felt more ritualistic than erotic. 

By the time Kei was at his calves Shoyou was getting antsy. But he stood still as he could and picked up one foot and then the other when prompted and tried not to squirm when it tickled. When his last toe was cleaned Kei stood and his knees popped. 

“Kei, I don’t know what that was but it was one of the hottest things you’ve ever done, please let me come.” The words came spilling out and Shoyou quickly covered his mouth, mortified at what he blurted out. 

But Kei’s lips quirked upwards. “What do you want, Sho?”

He quickly went over what he wanted before he could back down or before Kei could take back the offer. Kei agreed and sat on the edge of the tub. He looked up at Shoyou with a well-I’m-waiting expression and Shoyou couldn’t help but laugh because only Kei could pull that off in this scenario. 

“How are you so pretty?” 

With his off hand he reached out to cup Kei’s face and he eagerly leaned into the touch. Even with all of their previous activity it didn’t take long for Shoyou to finish, his whole body felt stimulated. 

Even though he couldn’t produce a lot of ejaculate, he still managed to get most of it in Kei’s hair, which he was not a fan of. 

Kei rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t planning on washing my hair but now you get to return the favor and do it for me.”

Shoyou was eager to do so. A bit overeager perhaps. He was a tad rough massaging in the shampoo, and when he tried to wash it out he got the soap in Kei’s eyes, and by the time he was washing out the conditioner the water was freezing cold.

Even with the water turned off they didn’t make a move to get out of the shower. Kei sat on the edge of the tub again and pulled Shoyou close so he could press his forehead against his stomach.

“Shoyou. I love you. Stay here.” It was a quiet plea, one he already knew the answer of.

“I love you too, Kei. I’ll be back before you know it. I’m going to text you and call you every day. I promise to be as annoying as possible, I’ll be impossible to miss.”

“Let’s go get dressed.” 

When they exited the bathroom they could hear their friends talking in the kitchen but they paid no mind to what they were talking about. To Kei they were a reminder that their time was drawing ever closer. 

Shoyou put on a pair of comfortable sweatpants and one of Kei’s shirts. It was too big for him and his collarbone was clearly visible.

“That’s mine.”

“I know. I’m taking it.”

“You look thoroughly debauched.” 

Shoyou smiled, “you know I don’t know what that means.”

\--

Kageyama eyed Kei when they finally made their entrance into the kitchen. Shoyou immediately jumped on the food that Hitoka made for him and was stuffing his face before he could even give the proper thanks.

“You’re going to the airport like that?”

“Are you the fashion police now? No, I’m not going to the airport.”

“Then get changed already! We need to leave soon!”

“Are you losing your hearing, your majesty? I said I’m not going.” 

The air in the room must have dropped a few degrees. Kageyama crossed the room in a few quick steps and shoved Kei hard enough that he stumbled back. 

“What the fuck do you mean? He’s your boyfriend and he’s leaving.” His words were icy calm and really Kei would prefer yelling to this. 

He couldn’t answer. He felt frozen again. He felt like he did last night when Tanaka asked them why they were even together. Because why were they together if Kei couldn’t get himself together enough to see his boyfriend off at the airport.

Shoyou banged his hands against the table, “That’s enough, Tobio. We talked about it a lot and decided this was better.”

“Who is this better for?” Kageyama finally raised his voice and it knocked Kei out of his stupor. 

He shoved Kageyama back, “Fine. You want in on the big secret? Shoyou and I realized that one of two things was likely to happen if I went with him. Either you would all get to see me cry and plead with him to stay, or I would pick a fight with him to the point we break up. We don’t want either of those. Are you happy now?”

It was times like now Kageyama was reminded of just how much shorter he was.

Tadashi took Kei’s arm and led him to the next room so Shoyou could finish eating in peace. 

-

Shoyou had his shoes on. And they were staring at each other. Neither of them knew what to say. Luckily they had Tadashi there to help them out. 

“You have three minutes to make out and then we really need to leave.”

It was like a switch was flipped. 

They kissed like they were trying to pour two years worth of kissing into one quick exchange. It was messy, it was mean. They forced each other’s mouths open to try and deepen the kiss, trying to get everything they could out of it. Frustrated, Kei nipped at Shoyou’s lip but used too much force and tasted blood. Be it punishment or accident, neither was sure but it hardly slowed them, it didn’t even register on Shoyou’s pain scale. 

What did register was the first drop of a tear brushing against his thumb. He held Kei’s head so their lips were a centimeter apart and held on when Kei pushed forward.

“I love you. I love you so much. I’m doing this for you too. I love you.”

Kei sniffed back tears, “I love you too. Come home soon.”

Their lips were still chapped when they slotted them together again, slowly and gently like they were in no hurry. Shoyou was amazed that Kei could still make his heart flutter with such a kiss while his own was rolling with anxiety. They ran their fingers through each other’s hair and whispered ‘I love you’ like it was a mantra. 

“Um, sorry. We have to go.” Tadashi nervously cut in. 

They looked up at the others in the room who were trying their best not to look at the intimate scene before them. 

Shoyou threw his arms around Kei’s waist and squeezed as hard as he could. “I’ll be back soon. I’ll text you when I get to the airport and when I’m on the plane and when I land. I love you.”

“I love you too. Come home soon.” He cradled his head and buried his face in his hair. 

Kageyama and Tadashi were getting antsy and Kei could feel them shuffling around with Shoyou’s luggage. 

“You have to let go now.”

They held on until the last possible second.

\--

Kei was alone in their apartment. His apartment.

His knees shook and his upper lip wobbled as he tried not to cry. There was no use in crying over this. He knew it was coming and he had time to prepare himself. He thought about his brother crying in his room after he found out his secret, all the effort he put into lying. Was all the effort they put into the last year of their relationship worth it when they knew they were going to end up on opposite sides of the globe? 

Kei pushed his glasses up his forehead so he could swipe at the tears that he couldn’t stop from falling. His head pounded with unshed tears and logically he knew that a cry would be cathartic and he needed food and water since he barely ate at the party and didn’t eat at all today. He really wanted a nap though.

He swayed as he walked down the hallway. After the third time one of his shoulders banged into a wall he stopped and let himself slide to the floor. No one could stop him from napping here if he wanted. Tadashi would probably come back later and yell at him for not taking care of himself and then get him something to eat; he could deal with that if it came to it. 

Kei took his glasses off and placed them nicely on the floor. He thought about laying down but instead he hugged his knees to his chest and hid his face, curling into a tight ball. There, where no one could see him, he let out a sob.

Fine, he bargained with himself, get it all out right now and then we can stop this.

There was a creaking in the hallway but he couldn’t hear it over his hiccuping. He wasn’t aware that someone else was there until he felt a small body tuck itself against his side. 

He froze. He didn’t want to lift his head, he was letting his eyes and nose run freely and was not in a state for company.

“It’s me,” Hitoka said softly, “I thought you might need a friend.”

“Oh,” he chokes out. He wasn’t expecting her kindness, or for anyone to stay here with him when they could be seeing Shoyou off instead. His eyes well up again and he doesn’t know why he’s crying this time or maybe he just can’t stop them anymore.

She leans into his side and doesn’t say anything, just takes steady breaths to try and regulate his own breathing. He remembers her saying, forever ago, that she was a master of anxiety, so she had a bag full of tricks to help calm someone down. She wasn’t actively doing anything though, which he appreciated. Being a calming presence was enough. 

Tadashi would have fretted and babbled and Kei would have snapped at him, that type of hovering wasn’t right for the situation. Though he knew that he could expect Tadashi to come around more often now to ‘discreetly’ check up on him. 

Hitoka actually was helping to calm him down, although every now and then his breath would catch again and a fresh wave of tears would fall. But sometimes he could go a few minutes where he could peek through his arms and blurrily watch her fiddle with his glasses. 

When the front door opened he expected it to be Tadashi. Shoyou probably texted him a dozen times already but his phone was somewhere in their bedroom (his bedroom? Their bedroom.) and he wasn’t about to get up and look for it. 

So he’s not surprised when someone sits down on the other side of him but he is surprised to hear “hey little bro,” coming from decidedly not-Tadashi. 

Kei’s head shoots up and as he looks at Akiteru, not caring about how terrible his face must look, he bursts into tears again. Aki looks startled and waves his hands frantically trying to convey that he didn’t mean to do whatever it is that he did but Kei buries his head in his brother’s chest and continues to cry.

“I’m being so lame,” he sobs after a few attempts to calm his breathing. 

“Well lets be less lame. You need to drink something and I brought you a strawberry shortcake.” Akiteru puts a hand on his hip as he takes over the situation. Kei wants to glare at him and complain but he lets himself be lifted off the ground and led towards the bathroom. “Let’s wash your face first.”

Hitoka trails after them holding a plastic bag that Kei didn’t notice earlier and his glasses.

Aki comes into the bathroom with him and watches him wash his face. His eyes and nose are red and the last time he looked anywhere near this bad was after they lost at Nationals for the last time. 

Kei looks at his brother’s reflection in the mirror, “Did you say a whole cake?”

He shrugged, “I didn’t know how much you’d want and it seemed better than one piece. Do you wanna change your shirt before you eat?” 

Aki drags him into his bedroom and crinkles up his nose, “You can do this part alone, your room reeks of sex.” 

Kei didn’t even have it in him to feel embarrassed, he simply nodded and mechanically changed his clothes to something clean and comfortable. It was weird seeing the closet so empty but he tried not to think about it. (Shoyou shipped most of his stuff to Rio weeks ago so it would be there when he arrived so Kei was already used to things disappearing around the apartment. But it was still weird.) 

After finally getting his glasses back from Hitoka the three of them made their way into the kitchen. Hitoka busied herself making tea and Aki pulled plates and utensils for the cake. 

“It really is a whole cake. I can’t eat all of that.” 

His brother smiled at him, “We’ll share it.” 

Kei nodded.

To: Kei (❤ω❤)  
From: Hinata Shoyou  
I'm at the airport!

Mom keeps crying and saying shes proud .･ﾟﾟ･(／ω＼)･ﾟﾟ･.

I think Tadashi and Tobio are gonna cry too

Everyone’s gone now. I’m getting nervous

I hope you’re okay

You’re probably asleep (x . x) ~~zzZ

I’m on the plane!!!

I need to turn my phone off now. I love you! I’ll message you as soon as I can

To: Sho-chan  
From: Tsukishima Kei  
Have a safe flight


	5. Chapter 5

Part 4 - Part 2

If anyone had told Kei he would be in a long distance relationship, he would have laughed in their face.

But here he was, starting his second year of college in Japan while Shoyou was playing on the beach in Rio. They had a twelve hour time difference which made it easy to calculate what time it was across the world and if it was a reasonable hour to call. Occasionally they could align their schedules so they could eat a meal together over video call but Kei didn’t eat breakfast and often wasn’t awake enough to watch Shoyou eat dinner, and Shoyou had breakfast so early that Kei was still in class or at practice.

Sometimes though, Kei could get back to the apartment at 19:00 and while he made dinner Shoyou would call him.

“Good morning!” he chirped!

Shoyou had gotten tan already. His nose and cheeks were starting to burn but he had already gone on an impassioned rant about how he was going to take care of himself better and that involved being better with sunscreen. 

“Evening, actually,” Kei sighed.

He frowned, “Are you tired? It’s not that late.”

Kei put down the spatula he was using to cook his dinner and looked at his boyfriend through the phone. “Classes are more difficult and coach is talking about professional tryouts.” 

Shoyou’s eyes widened, “are you gonna do it? Are you gonna try out? Do you wanna play professionally? I never asked if you were gonna keep playing after college. Are you gonna get on a pro team before me?”

He groaned, “Slow down. I just want my degree right now. Maybe play on a neighborhood team. I don’t know.” 

“If you change your mind I want to be the first person with a Tsukishima jersey. Not even your mom or Aki, okay?” Shoyou smiled so brightly at him he had to look away. 

“Sure. Can I make dinner now?” 

-

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

I’ve been tired too (｡╯︵╰｡)

Weird sleeping alone 

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

The bed is cold without you.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

It’s so hot here you wouldnt want to touch me

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Doubt that.

\--

 **To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

I dont think my roommate likes me ( ╥ω╥ )

He wont talk to me

He leaves when I come in the room!!

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

It’s your personality.

\--

“So have you died yet?”

Kei didn’t look up from the book he was reading, “hello to you too, Tadashi.” 

“You’re still alive then.” Tadashi sat across from him at the table and absentmindedly flipped through one of the closed textbooks. 

He glanced up, “Why would you think otherwise?”

Tadashi shrugged, “I had a bet with Hitoka that you probably hadn’t eaten in a few days.”

Kei stared at him. It was possible that he did have a bet like that going about him, Tadashi appeared nice but he could be as big a jerk as Kei himself, but it was equally as likely that he made up an excuse to come see how he was doing and he simply didn’t want to say so. He knew that Kei wouldn’t want the sympathy or the attention.

“Sorry to disappoint.” 

They sat in silence for almost ten minutes. Kei continued reading through his assignment and Tadashi scrolled through his phone and answered emails. When Kei finished up the chapter he closed the book and looked across the table at his oldest friend. 

“Are you staying for dinner?” 

He grinned, “I don’t think Shoyou would appreciate asking me out, but I think I can stay.”

Kei rolled his eyes at his friend’s brand of humor. It was nice to spend time with Tadashi, things felt normal. Tadashi was good at not letting him sulk or dwell on things for too long. “So how much did my being alive cost you?”

“Drinks next time we get together. Do you want to come?”

He hummed, it would be nice to see her but he didn’t want to commit to anything, “I’ll probably be busy but you can invite me.”

-

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

I had dinner with Tadashi today.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

So you do eat when I’m not there! (*￣▽￣)b

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Ha ha. He said the same thing.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

I’m glad you saw him

\--

 **To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

I think I have a sand rash?? (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

Like I fell on the sand so much it hurts my skin

Why?? (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

\--

  
  


Classes were harder and more demanding and he was trying to get an internship at the Sendai Museum on top of playing volleyball. Professor Satoshi said she would recommend him but she had some concerns about his schedule. She didn’t outright ask him or tell him to quit volleyball but he felt like the intention was there.

Should he quit? The experience he would gain by working at the museum could be invaluable for the career he wanted. Or maybe he could start a career at the museum if it all went well. But was that worth giving up volleyball? Did he like volleyball that much now that Shoyou was gone? Did he still have that drive to get up and practice every day? Did he still get a small thrill every time he successfully blocked a powerful spike? 

The truth was, he did still love it. He wanted to keep playing. 

But he also wanted that internship. And there was no reason he couldn’t have both. He was smart enough to work out a schedule where he could fit in class, work, practice, studying, and everything else like eating and sleeping. Other things would have to fall by the wayside though, namely spending time with Tadashi or playing with Akiteru’s team or talking to Shoyou as much as he wanted. 

He checked his phone. Shoyou had sent him a picture of a beach volleyball court with a frustrated face and no explanation. Shoyou was off doing everything he could to get ahead, so he would do the same thing in Japan. 

“Oh! Were you talking to Professor Satoshi about the internship?” Haruka appeared behind him, chipper as ever. They had even more classes together this semester so she took more time out of her day to talk to him. “I’m applying to it too! There are a few spots, maybe we’ll work together.” 

Kei darkened the screen of his phone and shoved it back into his pocket, “Yeah.” 

She gasped, “He speaks! Are you warming up to me now?” 

“No.” 

But even so she walked with him to the gym and chatted about the application process and how it would be a dream come true to work at the museum. She talked about how she hoped that not a lot of people applied because she would really like the chance but either way she felt like she had a good shot of getting it but oh so did he.

He hated that he was actually listening to her but her inane babbling reminded him of Shoyou and he missed hearing him talk about nothing.

“It’s weird not seeing Hinata here waiting,” she said once they rounded the corner and the gym was in sight. 

Kei felt his frustration grow. He didn’t need her to remind him that Shoyou wasn’t here anymore. His absence was felt in almost every part of life, the only time he could get away from it was in the classroom. He didn’t need the classroom to follow him to the gym and tell him that his boyfriend was missing. He already knew. 

“Anyway, do you want to go to the cafe later and--”

“I’m gay.” Kei blurted out. He didn’t mean to but he wanted her to leave him in peace.

Her brow furrowed, “What?” 

“I’m gay, I’ve had the same boyfriend for four years, I’m not going to go out with you.” He couldn’t seem to stop the words from coming out of his mouth and he was so acutely aware that they were standing in front of the gym where anyone could hear him.

“Hmm,” she looked him over, “that does explain why you dress so well.”

“Are you stereotyping me?” he asked incredulously.

She laughed and he couldn’t believe that she had the gall to laugh at him so openly. “Okay, fine, I accept that you’ll never go out with me. Do you want to work on our applications together anyway?” 

\- 

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

I came out to Haruka today.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Good or bad? 

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

I don’t know. She took it fine.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Good! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Kei I’m proud of you!!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

I love you! 

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

I love you too.

\--

Kei’s phone buzzed in his bag while he was in class. He glanced down at it as it buzzed again and again. It wasn’t ringing though, the pattern wasn’t right, and the only person who ever texted him so many times in a row like that was Shoyou. But it was almost 2:00 A.M. in Rio. Kei tried not to fidget while he waited for class to end but it was proving to be a difficult challenge.

When the professor dismissed them he gathered up his things as fast as he could and flew out the door to check his messages and find out what could be so important for Shoyou to message him multiple times so early in the morning.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Kei!!

Kei look!

[IMG: Shoyou and Oikawa Tooru on a beach in Rio making ridiculous faces with their tongues sticking out] 

The Grand King is in Rio!!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

We played volleyball and he took me to dinner

Youre in class i love you im going to bed now goodnight (っ˘з(˘⌣˘ ) ♡

He stared down at his phone. This is what he sent himself into a panic for? Aoba Johsai’s former setter, Kageyama’s biggest fear, and a rival they hadn’t seen for a long time, was also in Rio. Kei had heard from Kyotani that Oikawa had gone to Argentina after graduation and it was possible he was travelling on his own or with a team. 

The photo taunted him though. In their last few video calls Shoyou had seemed a bit more withdrawn. He claimed he was tired and Kei was willing to believe it, he was tired too, both of their schedules on top of a long-distance relationship was tiring. But Kei saw something sad in his eyes that he was ignoring.

In the photo he looked so happy. So full of life.

He called Tadashi. 

“Tadashi, how did you deal with other people calling me Tsukki?” He asked by way of greeting.

He didn’t miss a beat, “Glared at them. Mentally taunted them about how I’m better friends with you. Wait, why? Does this have to do with the picture Shoyou sent with Oikawa?”

Kei mentally facepalmed. He didn’t consider the possibility that Shoyou would send the picture to literally everyone he knows, but looking back at it, it was exactly something that Shoyou would do. “No.”

Tadashi wasn’t having it though, Kei never called him in the middle of the day (hell, Kei rarely ever called him), and he received a text with the picture as well and knew exactly how his best friend would react. “You’re jealous, aren’t you? You want to know how to deal with jealousy? Now? It’s been years.” 

“I’m not jealous,” Kei lied through gritted teeth. 

He snorted, “You’re always bristly when someone else is touching him. And now you can’t touch him and Oikawa is and you know you’d never pose for a picture like that and he looks happy.”

Kei took the phone away from his ear and frowned at it for a second, “Why does anyone think you’re nice?”

“But I bet Shoyou is lonely and would have been happy to run into any familiar face. And familiar language! Oikawa could be replaced with anyone.” Tadashi continued on, he was well used to Kei questioning his niceness or their friendship when they were talking about things that he didn’t want to hear.

“Gee, thanks.” He already knew he was replaceable. 

Tadashi let out a put upon sigh, “Anyone but you, you idiot. If you were in Rio there would be no picture because you’d be too busy being gross. Tobio is right, you know, you’re disgusting.”

“I… what? I’m not--” he sputtered. 

“--You’re absolutely disgustingly in love with him. It’s hard to watch. When you have a break, go and visit him.”

It was the most obvious thing in the world, the fact that Kei could go visit him too. He was too embarrassed to admit that because of everything that was currently on his plate he never thought of it. But maybe he could find a way to make it work out.

“...Shut up Tadashi.” 

He wasn’t a good enough friend to fake an apology.

-

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

I thought he was in Argentina

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Hes visiting for a few days

It was fun to see someone from home

I was getting home sick 

I miss you

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

I miss you too

\--

Kenma was standing outside his door when he came home from practice. Kei inwardly groaned. Sure, they agreed to talk or whatever to appease Shoyou but he didn’t expect Kenma to actually show up at his apartment, especially without any warning. 

“I thought you had my contact information.”

Kenma shrugged without looking up from his phone, “You wouldn’t have responded anyway.” 

Kei pushed his glasses up his nose so he could hide his face. It was true that he would have ignored any message that Kenma sent him because he wasn’t expecting Kenma to send him any messages. They weren’t friends. They barely interacted when him and Shoyou spent time together and for all the time that the two spent video chatting, Kei knew almost nothing about him other than he was a year older, played volleyball (but not anymore), and liked video games-- and he knew all of that in his first year of high school. 

So what was he doing here? Kenma didn’t seem like the type of person who looked at Kei and decided that he was prime friend material. Then again he didn’t look like the type of person who would decide that Kuroo or Shoyou were prime friend material either but introvert-extrovert dynamics were completely different than introvert-introvert dynamics. 

Shoyou probably bullied him into coming here. 

Kenma put his phone into his pocket, “are you going to let me in?” 

“Do I have to?” 

His lips quirked upwards at that but only for a split second, “Shoyou would be upset with you if you let me freeze to death,” he said seriously.

“How would he find out?” Kei opened the door and let him in. 

“He watches my stream sometimes. He’d notice I’m gone and call Kuro who knows I’m here. Then Kuro would come bother you instead.” 

“You’re more tolerable.”

“Thank you.” 

Kei went straight into the kitchen to start making himself dinner. Kenma made himself at home in the living room, hooking his Switch up to the television like he was over all the time and this was something that he always did. While Kei cooked calm music filled the room. Being home with Kenma was almost like being by himself, only the soundtrack was different. 

When he finished cooking Kei considered eating in the kitchen and ignoring the other man’s presence but there was a good chance that Kenma would report back to Shoyou about his visit and he might as well try and make a good impression on his boyfriend’s friend, so he joined Kenma in the living room. He didn’t offer any food. If he was going to show up unannounced he should have eaten beforehand or brought food. He wasn’t that nice. 

“What are you playing?” He asked as he watched Kenma’s avatar walk from tree to tree and shake it for some reason.

“Animal Crossing. It’s new-ish.” Kenma kept shaking trees and tsked when a leaf floated down. Apparently it wasn’t a good leaf. 

Kei had no idea how this game worked or how shaking trees was fun for anyone but he wasn’t the one playing and he was barely watching. The music was nice though and he didn’t mind having it be the soundtrack to his weird evening with his weird acquaintance. 

Kenma shifted next to him, “Do you want to see the museum? You like dinosaurs, right?” 

“Huh?” Kei wasn’t paying attention and it took a moment to process what he had said, “museum? Dinosaurs?” 

“I’ve seen them in your room while talking to Shoyou. Part of this game is collecting things for the island’s museum.” 

Kei watched Kenma’s avatar run across the island to one of the bigger buildings. Inside he talked to an owl that looked like he was wearing a sweater vest and gave him a fish. Video games were weird. But then Kenma’s character went left and entered the hall of dinosaurs.

He lit up.

“Oh! How did you get those?” 

“Ah… you can dig up fossils.” 

Kei examined all of the skeletons, “Where’s the island located where you can get so many types of dinosaur skeletons?” 

Kenma covered his mouth, “It’s a game.” 

He felt stupid. Of course it was a game, you could put anything you want in a game, even dinosaurs that lived nowhere near each other. “Of course.”

“Look, if you stand on these circles you can get a different view.” 

-

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Did you steal my purple hoodie?

  
  


**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Yes. (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b

\--

He was in class and his phone buzzed in his bag. And buzzed. And buzzed. He glared down at it wondering who popped by Rio this time. But it kept buzzing until Kei realized that someone was trying to call him. No one called him unless it was important. It could be an actual family emergency where he was needed but he was being too stubborn to look at his phone because last time it buzzed during class it was a dumb picture.

It started buzzing again. Haruka wiggled her fingers to catch his attention and pointed to his bag. Even she was telling him to get out of class and answer that. 

Kei motioned to the things on his desk to silently ask her to watch over his belongings and left the room clutching his phone. 

He had five missed calls from Shoyou. 

The phone lit up in his hands again. 

“Shoyou? What’s wrong?” 

“Kei,” he breathed out, “Kei, I, um, need to talk to you. It’s important.” 

He ran his fingers through his hair, “Are you literally dying right now because I ran out in the middle of class because my phone kept ringing and the only reason to call me multiple times in a row instead of just texting me is that you’re seriously injured.”

“Oh, um,” Shoyou sounded nervous, “I’m not hurt but I really need to talk to you right now so don’t hang up on me.” 

“Shoyou, I have class.”

“A girl kissed me,” he blurted out.

Kei leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, “Oh.” His head spun, he didn’t know what to think except Shoyou was definitely going to break up with him now. He was too affectionate to have a long-distant relationship and was going to dump him for a beautiful girl in Rio who could kiss him whenever she wanted or play beach volleyball with him or--

“Kei, breath! I know you’re spiraling, stop and listen to me. At night lots of people go to the beach to play and it doesn’t matter how good you are, you just play and it’s been a lot of fun. The past few nights I’ve been playing with this girl and we finally won a match and she kissed me and it wasn’t a friends ki--”

“Are you going to break up with me?” 

“What! No you idiot! I panicked after she kissed me and I told her I was dating someone and that I love him and I just needed to call you and tell you I love you.” For the first time Kei could tell that Shoyou was near tears, “not everything is about you, you idiot, I’m doing this for me.”

“Oh,” Kei said blankly. He didn’t know how to respond to all of that. “It’s sort of about me, it’s me you love.”

Shoyou laughed on the other end of the phone, “You’re such an asshole. Why do I miss you so much?” 

Kei pulled his knees to his chest and tucked in his chin so he could hide his face from anyone who was walking down the hallway. “I miss you too. I hate that you’re so far away.” 

“I fell out of bed this morning,” Shoyou whispered. Kei listened to him breath while he waited for him to continue, “I think I was reaching for you. I’m still not used to you not being there and sometimes I cook too much food because I think I need to make some for you too, but I can just eat that.”

“Shoyou…”

“I swear Kei if you ask if I want to break up I will fly back to Japan to beat you up.”

“Tempting.”

Shoyou laughed again and it was music to his ears but it also made his heart clench. Kei forced a chuckle in return but Shoyou heard how fake it was and stopped laughing. “I wanna keep telling you how much I love you, but I need to go to bed and you should go back to class.”

Kei frowned. When did Shoyou get so responsible? But he was right. “I love you too. I’ll text you later.” 

-

After class ended Kei and Haruka stayed in their seats so he could copy down the notes that he missed. The information was useful but he knew that it was going to come with some questioning about why he had to run out of class. She sat quietly texting someone until he finished getting all of the notes that he missed. She could be annoying at times but at least she was studious, he could appreciate that.

“Thanks,” he handed her notes back.

She flipped through a few pages of her notebook before unceremoniously shoving it in her bag, “So is everything okay? Someone was trying really hard to reach you.”

He sighed, she didn’t waste any time getting straight to the point, “It’s none of your business, but my boyfriend called me. Something happened, everything’s fine, I don’t want to talk more about it.”

Haruka shrugged, “Mystery boyfriend doesn’t know your schedule or couldn’t wait thirty minutes for class to be over? That must have been important. Oh! We’ll find out about the internship soon. C’mon, you usually go to the gym now.” She bounced from topic to topic.

Kei stared at her. Were they friends now? They had most of their classes together and she tended to sit near him and walk with him after most of them. He stuck to a strict weekly schedule so, yes, he did want to head to the gym for some weight training before his night class (English, she wasn’t in that one) and she must have caught on to that routine. Kei had no idea what she did outside of class. Then again, no one had ever accused him of being good at friendship. 

While they walked to the gym she chattered about how she was nervous about the internship but also rather confident about it but still didn’t want to get her hopes up. Kei nodded in silent agreement, he felt very much the same way and was already working on how he could rearrange his schedule to get working hours in. He even talked to Shoyou about how they may have to schedule different times to talk. (Shoyou smiled like he was so proud of what Kei was doing, it was embarrassing.) 

Haruka waved goodbye to him when they reached the gym door. He considered asking her what she did after class. He didn’t. 

Instead he went into the weight room and found Kyotani stretching on the mats in the corner. Kei sat down on an adjacent mat and they nodded at each other in greeting. Kyotani had calmed down a lot since their first year in high school (although some people still called him Mad Dog, much to his dismay), and the two of them were sort of friends. They were friends in the way that two people silently tolerated each other and then at the end of the day nodded at each other like they had a good time. But for two people who overall had a low tolerance for others, it was good enough.

They often paired with each other for practice, partially because they could put up with each other, and partially because they didn’t want to deal with others, but also because their other teammates didn’t want to deal with their bouts of moodiness. It was beneficial for everyone. Both of them were trying to be better teammates though. When Shoyou was here he pulled Kei into groups and now that he was gone Kogane stepped in to fill his shoes, but with less success.

Kei was just getting to the point where he felt comfortable bringing up ideas to his new team. He took a long time to warm up to a group of people. 

“Spot me,” Kyotani grunted. 

He shook his head, “Let’s go serve instead.” Kei looked around the room, there were only a few others around at this time of day and he wasn’t in the right mind to be a spotter, if he slipped up Kyotani could get injured. 

Kyotani studied him for a moment but acquiesced to the change of plans and led the way to the gym. 

Kei’s jump serve wasn’t nearly as powerful as Kyotani’s, and their forms were completely different-- although their forms were different for almost everything-- so watching them side-by-side was an experience. Everything Kei did was tight and controlled, there was never any wasted movement, unlike his partner who hit everything with a wild and powerful snap. 

At least, usually Kei was in control of his movements. After he hit three consecutive serves out of bounds Kyotani stopped him.

“You’re angry. Stop serving.”

Kei paused before he could toss the next one, “What?” 

“Get a cart and smack the balls against a wall as hard as you can.” Kyotani turned away from him and began lining up his next shot.

“Why?” 

He let out an annoyed grunt, “You’re angry,” he repeated, “Your form is gonna crumble and you could hurt your shoulders, knees, or ankles. If you’re hitting the wall you only worry about your shoulders or face.” He completed his serve, it painted the line. 

Kei looked over to the supply closet. It would be easy to grab a cart and vent his frustrations on not being able to see Shoyou. He had seen Shoyou slam ball after ball into the wall when he was upset and needed to work off excess energy before. Maybe it would work on him as well. Besides, Kyotani wasn’t going to let him serve anymore. 

He felt dumb standing in front of the wall next to a full cart of volleyballs but the second he felt the sting against his hand and heard the slap against the wall, something snapped within him. He picked up ball after ball and launched them towards the wall without thought or care until the cart was empty and his hair was sticking to his forehead with sweat. Kei wasn’t too sure how much time had passed or how much energy he exerted but he was breathing hard and his head felt a bit clearer. 

Oddly enough, he felt better. 

Kyotani nodded at him.

-

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

I miss touching you

I thought Id be too busy to be lonely but none of the people are you and I wanna kiss you

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Are you okay? 

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Sad

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Me too. 

\-- 

The Sendai City Museum was amazing. His internship application was accepted and every new applicant/employee had to spend a few hours a week working during the last month of their second year acclimating to how the museum functioned before things picked up at the start of third year and the real work began. 

There were computer programs and filing systems to learn and some people needed to learn the layout of the museum so they could get around quickly which Kei thought was preposterous because he’d known how to get around since before he was accepted to college. He talked to the head of the program and they were willing to work with his volleyball schedule so he had some bizarre hours but he was doing whatever he could to make it work. 

That also meant dragging himself out of bed earlier than usual to get to the museum hours before it opened to the public to help catalog artefacts. He loved the work but he did not love the hour. If he slightly mistimed leaving the apartment then he didn’t have enough time to stop for coffee on the way, then he would be miserable for the rest of the day because he didn’t have enough time between his shift and his first class to stop and get any.

More often than not he overslept those precious few minutes and had to sacrifice getting coffee. Of course, the museum had a break room but there was an unwritten rule that he wasn’t an official employee until this probationary period was over and he started his third year, so he wasn’t allowed in and no one would bring him any. Not that he had asked. Or made any friends who would sympathize with his dilemma. 

He did have Haruka whose chipper attitude in the morning made him contemplate killing her or himself. Or both of them. But those thoughts were a good way to pass the time while they were tediously filing delicate paperwork. 

Filing was oddly exhausting. Then again, everything was exhausting lately. Kei was close to running on empty. (“Tired-shima” he could hear Shoyou and Kageyama taunting him in the back of his mind.) The words and dates on the paperwork blurred but he didn’t need to see it when it was already pre-sorted. He was lagging in volleyball the past few days, but they were out of tournament season (and nearing academic finals) so the coach didn’t mind.

The upcoming break couldn’t come soon enough.

Haruka elbowed him in the side. “So?” 

“Ow! What?” 

She sighed dramatically, “You weren’t listening to me.” He wasn’t but he also wasn’t going to tell her that, “I said that Masaru from the group above us keeps staring at you. I think he likes you.” 

Kei glanced over at him. Masaru was a year older than them and was supposed to supervise their work. When they first met he begged everyone not to call him senpai, their age difference and experience level wasn’t that different and it wasn’t a title he wanted. Kei didn’t think anything of him.

He shrugged, “he’s probably looking at me because I’m 40 cm taller than him.” Which was true, Masaru was smaller than Shoyou. 

Haruka laughed, “Maybe he likes tall guys. What about you? It must be hard finding guys taller than you.”

Kei froze. “We’re not having this conversation.” 

“Why? No one can hear us.”

“It’s none of your business,” he bit out.

She pouted up at him, “Then tell me something about your boyfriend. I don’t know anything about your taste.”

He put down the stack of paper he was supposed to be filing and rubbed his eyes. His head hurt. “I don’t have a taste. I don’t particularly like anyone other than who I’m dating and he’s still the most annoying person I’ve ever met.” 

Haruka picked up his stack of papers and continued filing for him, “You don’t find anyone else attractive?”

Kei scrunched up his nose. That was such a weird question. He had a boyfriend, why would he look at anyone else? “No. I already have someone.” He took back half of the papers. 

She hummed at him, “Even people who are dating can look at someone else and see that they’re good looking.” 

“Not me. And I’m done with this conversation.”

He was so tired.

-

 **To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

My skin is clear and its so weird!!

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Throw yourself against the sand.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

You should come bite me instead (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

...I’m not going to sext you.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Kei!!!

Why not!!

\--

Aki brought him some strawberry shortcake to celebrate the end of term. (Technically the end of term was two weeks away but Kei only had to hand in papers between now and then, to Akiteru he was practically free.) The shortcake was from his favorite bakery in the city that for some reason could make a wonderful shortcake but could only make a mediocre chocolate cake and terrible coffee, and it was on the other side of the city so he didn’t get there often. 

Akiteru didn’t bring it to him out of the goodness of his heart, although that wouldn’t be out of character for him, he brought it as a bribe. He was trying to convince Kei to come home for part of his break. While it was true that he hadn’t seen his mother in some time, he wanted to lay around in his bed in his apartment and not have to worry about anything. If he was home his mother would ask him questions about school and dating.

He was going to tell Akiteru he wasn’t going.

Somehow he ended up in his childhood home. 

His mother was ecstatic to see him. It was nice to see her even if she fretted over if he was eating enough and sleeping enough and if he made any friends. He humored her and let her cook a too-large meal that he couldn’t eat and actually talked to her about spending time with people other than Tadashi for which she laid on thick praise. But he made the mistake of mentioning Haruka while talking about the museum.

“So,” his mother perked up, “is Haruka your girlfriend? She’s in your program so you must have a lot in common”

Kei balled his hands into fists and felt the familiar sting of his nails digging in. It had been a while since he reverted back to this particular tick. “No, she’s not. Actually, about that. I want to ask you something.” He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. 

His mother smiled widely at him. When she did that Kei could see just how much his mother and brother not just looked alike but had similar personalities. Where did he even come from? She was so happy that her youngest son was going to open up about something, “Sure, let’s talk.” She folded her hands on the table and patiently waited for him to speak.

“I want to go to Rio for a week.”

Her face crinkled in confusion. That had nothing to do with a girl or, to her, anyone he was possibly dating. “What’s in Rio? Does it have to do with the museum?” 

Kei licked his lips nervously, “No. I want to visit Shoyou. Shoyou is my boyfriend, we’ve been dating since our first year of high school.”

“Oh,” her face went blank and it was then Kei saw himself in her. She was just as good at closing down her emotions while she processed new information. He took a deep breath and decidedly didn’t panic, she didn’t react poorly, she was thinking. “Are you happy?”

He let out a breath. He didn’t know what he wanted to hear from his mother but her asking about his happiness was probably the best thing. She wasn’t pushing for more information on the relationship, she wasn’t telling him that she was disappointed, she was simply inquiring after him. 

Usually he was happy with Shoyou. Embarrassingly, disgustingly happy if everyone else is to be believed. But right now… “I miss him.”

“I don’t think you should go,” she started and put a hand up when Kei opened his mouth to protest, “not because I disapprove, but because you’re very busy and need rest. Traveling that far for such a short time isn’t restful.”

He stared at his still balled fists and frowned. She wasn’t wrong. The flight was long and it would take him a long time to adjust to the time change and by the time he was adjusted he would have to return and jump right back to his hectic schedule. His break wasn’t that long and he needed to catch up on his rest before classes started up again and he got more hours at the museum and he had to start preparing for another tournament and marked on his calendar was open tryouts for the Sendai Frogs Division 2 Professional Volleyball Team. 

He had a lot on his plate. Kei shoved a large clump of rice in his mouth and slowly chewed it so he could have more time to come up with an appropriate answer and to have an adequate excuse for trying to swallow away the overwhelming lump in his throat. He had gotten the idea in his head that he was going to see Shoyou-- touch Shoyou-- and now he had to process the idea that he wasn’t.

“You’re right,” he told his hands, “I should prepare for next term. He comes back in about a year anyway. I can wait.”

His mother smiled at him but he wasn’t looking, “Invite him over when he’s home.”

He nodded. 

Kei spent most of the break sleeping in his childhood bedroom or training with the adults on Akiteru’s team (who slapped his back and told him that he was an adult now, which at 20 years old he sort of was). Not having small reminders of Shoyou around the house like he did in his apartment made Kei miss him more. He let himself mope for a bit but there were too many things to do to stay down for long. 

It was nice to get back to his apartment. It was less nice to get back into his hectic routine, but he had to figure out how to make it work.

He loved every part of it, there was absolutely nothing he was willing to drop. He had to make it work. 

-

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

I got a new lab partner

[IMG: Kei and Natsu at the Sendai Museum]

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Did she visit you?

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Class trip. I was working.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Jealous

\--

Trying to balance everything felt impossible. 

He had to get up earlier than he liked to get to the museum-- but now he was allowed to go in the break room and get coffee at least-- then most days he had to rush to class afterwards, he mastered eating in the short walks between his lectures, and he ended his days in the gym. By the time night rolled around he had to drag himself home to make dinner. He barely had time to check in with Shoyou, he couldn’t even remember the last time he talked to Tadashi. 

Despite the bone deep weariness, he felt oddly content. Like he was actually doing something with his life that he was proud of.

Although when his alarm went off in the morning he did hate himself and everyone else he could possibly think of who got him to this point. 

He made his way slowly to the museum. His feet dragged against the sidewalk and his nice shoes were getting scuffed but he didn’t have it in him to care. He probably should have worn his gym shoes for the walk, they were nestled nicely in his gym bag slung over his shoulder with his school bag, but he didn’t want to waste precious moments changing shoes that he could instead use drinking mediocre coffee.

The entrance of the museum was warm and the first few steps inside always felt a bit too stuffy until he adjusted to the temperature change. Kei wiped his forehead and pulled at his collar, no one was around to see his momentary discomfort, the entrance was always empty this early. The real bustle happened behind closed doors. 

His first stop had to be the staff room so he could put down his bags. Carrying around all of his books and gear all day, every day, was annoying but necessary. It was true that he could leave his volleyball gear locked up in the gym locker room, it would be safe there, but he didn’t want to take the chance. He tried to think of it as weight training and tried not to think about how much he hated weight training. 

Next was the break room for coffee. Since starting his third year and becoming an official intern, people felt free to interact with him. It was off putting how not-off putting they found him. (“Academics are just like that sometimes,” Masaru shrugged, “you fit right in.”) So people tried to talk to him while he poured himself some coffee.

“Good morning, Tsukishima!” A girl a year older than him said around her own cup of coffee. He had no idea what her name was. 

“Hmm.”

She chuckled, “Ever the morning person, I see.” 

Had they interacted before? Maybe he should try and pay more attention in the mornings. He shook his head minutely. He wasn’t going to. 

Haruka came in a whirlwind, “Tsukishima! Mei! Where’s Masaru? We get to start prepping for the new exhibit today! It’s our first real responsibility! I’m so worried I’m going to ruin something. What if I destroy something older than our whole country? Will they kick me out of school?” 

Mei-- apparently that’s what her name was-- laughed in earnest, “I don’t think we’ll be trusted with anything that delicate.”

Kei put his head on the table and let the coffee cup warm his hands. He was excited, he really was, later he would love to gush about it to Shoyou while he looked at him with a dopey smile, but right now he was just so tired. 

The first step in their big responsibility put a damper on Haruka’s mood when it required a lot of paperwork. Tedious work to start a tedious routine. But could he do this for the rest of his life? Absolutely. 

-

He had to jog to make it to class, he usually didn’t cut it so close, and he silently thanked the unwritten rule that once you choose your seat on your seat on the first day of class that’s where you always sat, with little exception. It made slipping into the classroom and into his seat easy. 

By this point all of his classes were Anthropology or Archeology related (or adjacent), he already finished all of his other requirements. It made all of his classes enjoyable and made it so he didn’t want to miss anything, even if some lectures were boring and some lecturers dull. 

Kei diligently took notes in a color-coded system that was minorly influenced by Hitoka back in high school. It worked for so long, there was no need to change. Some of the other students saw Kei as high strung or condescending, and they weren’t terribly off the mark, he simply wanted to do well and had the misfortune of learning about putting in his all to try and get results hammered into his head by his overly optimistic boyfriend. And he put in a lot of time and effort into his studies to remain near the top of his class.

He didn’t need people to like him. Hell, he would actually prefer if less people liked him nowadays. Kei didn't exactly want a social life and he didn’t have time for it.

When the lecture got dull, or it started going over something he already learned in a previous class, Kei started to realize how hungry he was. It was also times like these he could hear everyone in his life lecturing him about how he doesn’t eat enough. (He has gained weight though, it’s from muscle, but still.) He tried not to focus on the rumbling of his stomach or the convenience store sandwich he was going to grab between classes.

He was so hungry.

Maybe he would get two sandwiches. A sandwich and a fruit parfait. 

Kei missed the second half of the lecture daydreaming about lunch but Haruka would give him the notes if he asked. 

The sandwich might have been the best part of his day if not for volleyball. Sometimes he could step through the doors of the gym and catch his second wind. He’d feel rejuvenated and ready to conquer anything practice could throw at him. 

Which was good because practice was hours long and left him covered in sweat. 

In the locker room after practice Kei pressed his cheek against the cool metal to try and help regulate his body temperature. He felt so overheated. He needed dinner. To do his school work. To go to bed. 

“Tsukishima!” The coach yelled into the room, knocking him out of his reverie, “Get over here!” 

Kei walked over to the coach’s adjacent office, “Yes, coach?”

“Have you thought more about going pro? The Frogs are having their open tryouts next month.”

He nodded, “I’m thinking seriously about it.”

He was. The date had been marked on his calendar for a long time.

\--

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

I sent you a package.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

You did??

What is it? \\(★ω★)/

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

It’s a surprise.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Tell me!! The suspense is killing me! ヽ(°□° )ノ

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

It’ll be there in a few days.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

It better not be study guides!

I know Portuguese Kei!

\--

His phone was ringing but he was laying face down on the couch and he didn’t want to answer it. He was utterly exhausted but what else was new. The phone call clicked off but then started up again. He picked it up without looking at who was calling. 

“What?”

“Kei!” That voice on the other end shouted at him, “You did it!” 

Kei rubbed his eyes and took a second to check who was calling. “Shoyou?” 

“Of course it’s me, you idiot,” he laughed, “who else calls you? But Kei! I can’t believe you did it!” 

“Did what?” He rubbed his eyes again. Where did his glasses go? When did he fall asleep? Did he even have dinner yet? Wait, why was Shoyou calling him again?

“You made pro before me!” 

Oh, right. Kei sent him a Sendai Frogs jersey, number 17, with Tsukishima written across the back. Kei actually asked someone if he could have an extra one so he could send it to his mother but he sent it to Shoyou instead. He made a promise once and he intended on keeping it. Besides, as soon as they were available for purchase he knew Akiteru was going to buy out the entire store.

“Hmm, yeah.” Kei mumbled into the couch, “I did.” 

“Is that all you have to say?” He could hear the affection emanating from through the phone, “I don’t know if I should yell at you or praise you.” 

“You should come home and do better,” he said without thinking, “I’m only in V2, you can join a V1 team like his majesty.” 

“Argh! I can’t believe you both beat me! And Kageyama is on such a good team! I have a little bit more time here and then I’m going to try out for the best team that has open tryouts!” 

Kei frowned, that meant Shoyou could end up anywhere in Japan. Sure they would be in the same timezone which would be nice but it also meant they wouldn’t be coming home to each other. He should have known that Shoyou wasn’t going to just settle down in Sendai when he returned. At least he would only be a train ride away this time, but still his schedule was so busy there was no guarantee they would actually get to see each other. 

“Are you coming here?”

There was a pause on the other end, “Huh?” 

In his tired state he didn’t make his question terribly understandable. He sighed and finally sat up. From his new vantage point he could see a blurry bowl on the table so he could at least answer the question of whether or not he ate dinner. Kei felt around for his glasses so they didn’t get lost somewhere. 

“When you come home, are you coming straight here?” He asked again.

Shoyou hummed, “I’m flying into the same airport but if any really good teams have tryouts I’m going to go straight there and make them notice me!” 

He was bursting with a familiar energy that almost made Kei smile, but then the full meaning of his words sunk in. “I might not see you then.”

“Pick me up from the airport,” Shoyou said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And to him it was the obvious answer, but he didn’t understand just how packed Kei’s day was every day and that he couldn’t afford to take time out of his day like that. Even for Shoyou. Even if he wanted to. 

Kei sighed, “Shoyou, I can’t, I’m so busy. I want to be there when you get home but...” he trailed off. He didn’t know how to say his other responsibilities came first. 

“Yeah,” Shoyou chuckled, “and we might end up making a scene at the airport if you did.”

He did laugh at that as well. It was true, who knows how they would react after seeing each other in person after two years apart. 

“Tell me about the tournament you’re entering.” 

Kei fell back asleep to Shoyou excitedly talking about beach volleyball. 

-

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

[IMG: Kei in his new glasses]

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Keiii Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→

Did you rethink sexting me?

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

No.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

How do you look SMARTER??

Is your hair longer?

You look so good!!

I cant wait to see you

\--

When Kei’s alarm went off he didn’t get out of bed. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say he couldn’t get out of bed. His body was so heavy. He could barely lift his arms or open his eyes. But the alarm was still going off and he needed to turn it off before it hurt his head any more. 

It took all of his energy to silence the alarm. When he tried to sit up his head spun and his ears rang loudly so he laid back down and closed his eyes tight willing the dizziness to pass. He wasn’t going to make it to the museum at this rate. With some luck whatever this was would pass before his classes started. 

His mind wandered and he drifted back off to sleep.

When he woke the second time it was mid-afternoon. He missed his whole shift at the museum and didn’t inform anyone he wouldn’t be there, and his second class of the day was about to end. His second attempt at sitting up was met with the same ringing but no dizziness, which was an improvement, it meant he could make his way to the kitchen and find something to eat. As soon as his thoughts landed on food his stomach growled and his mouth dried up, he was dehydrated. 

The walk to the kitchen took longer than usual and he mentally thanked the wall for its support during his trying time. He gulped down a glass of water before deciding to warm up some leftovers. He drank another glass while the food heated up. 

His phone had a ton of messages asking where he was. He emailed the head of his program at the museum and apologized profusely for getting sick. He was going to email Haruka and ask for the notes he missed but she sent them minutes prior, most likely just as class ended. When he was better he would thank her and explain his absence. 

For now though, he laid on the couch with a bowl of food on his stomach and tried hard not to fall asleep again. It must be his schedule catching up to him. He was overworking himself and needed to find some time to squeeze in a bit more sleep, he didn’t want to crash like this every few months until he died. 

The things he had to do were going to pile up while he was out of commission too. He needed to rework his schedule. It would be ridiculous if Shoyou came back self-sufficient and Kei couldn’t even take care of himself. He was supposed to be the smarter of the two.

He needed to get better as fast as he could.

-

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

[IMG: Shoyou’s new haircut]

Do you like it?

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Won’t know until I can touch it.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

୨୧(̷ ̷〇̷ ̷﹏̷ ̷〇̷ ̷)̷୨୧

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Pervert

\--

Kei finally joined Tadashi and Hitoka for drinks. Every few weeks they asked him to join them and every few weeks he turned them down. But he was ahead on his school work and he didn’t need to be at the museum tomorrow so he surprised them by agreeing to go out. 

They didn’t think he would actually show up until he walked in the door. 

“Kei!,” Hitoka cheered, she was already a little tipsy, “I thought you were lying to us to make us feel better about never showing up.” 

He ordered his own drink and joined them at their small table, “No, I finally had some free time. I don’t know when it’ll happen again so maybe don’t spend the whole time telling me how terrible I am.”

Tadashi nodded, “We can wait until next time to talk about how terrible you are.”

Hitoka almost knocked over her drink waving her hands around, “We don’t talk about that! I promise! I mean, we talk about you sometimes, like how we don’t see you, but we don’t call you terrible, just busy.”

“Calm down, I know he was joking. Tadashi has a terrible sense of humor,” he glared at his best friend. 

He was wholly unaffected by the look Kei was giving him, “I learned from the best.” 

Kei took a sip of his drink and chose not to answer that. He was going to have to drink slowly, he rarely had alcohol and he didn’t want to act like a fool. 

“It’s really okay that you’re here?” Hitoka asked nervously. She never got over her anxiety but she was managing it a lot better. He was touched that she was still worried about his schedule even though he showed up. 

He nodded, “It’s more than okay. I can even sleep in tomorrow. But I don’t want to be out too late.”

It was nice to catch up with them, it felt normal. So rarely did he feel like he was having the normal college experience. But for once he could go out with his friends and see how they were doing, see how Hitoka was still growing her hair out and that is suited her well, and that Tadashi had cut his shorter again; he could learn that Hitoka was already offered a position at a design firm for after she graduates and that Tadashi wasn’t sure what he wanted to do when he finished college. He could talk to them about the difficulties of balancing everything he was trying to do.

It was nice to have his friends nearby. 

He should have done this sooner. 

Maybe next time Shoyou could join them.

\--

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Im on the plane!!!

-

Shoyou was coming home today. Shoyou was coming home today and Kei was going to vibrate out of his skin. He barely slept the night before and that was most likely going to ruin the rest of his very long day. He needed to drag himself through the day without making a fool of himself. It was going to be difficult.

Apparently he couldn’t even make it through the first part of his day. As soon as he stepped into the break room of the museum Haruka looked at him oddly. He ignored her obvious staring and they got to work on helping prep the upcoming exhibit but she kept glancing at him. He hoped that she would keep her thoughts to herself

He wasn’t that lucky.

“Okay,” she put down what she was working on, “Why do you look ready to drop everything and run at any second?”

She crossed her arms and stared at him. He studiously ignored her and kept working. Maybe if he didn’t answer she would give up and they could go back to working like nothing happened. But he still wasn’t that lucky, she kicked his shoe and waited for a response.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Shoyou is coming home today.” 

Haruka squinted at him like she was trying to put something together and came up short. “That’s nice but it doesn’t explain why you look like a nervous wreck.” She kept looking at him. It was getting annoying. He just wanted to get through his day so he could go home and be in the same room as his boyfriend.

“Shoyou is my boyfriend,” he admitted. Kei was pretty sure that she suspected there was something between them but never directly asked. She knew that Shoyou used to live with him and once asked why he didn’t rent out the room he used to live in. He couldn’t tell her that it was also his room so he made up an excuse about it being too small.

Her eyes widened a bit. Maybe she had no idea. That was surprising though, he thought that she was smarter than that. She broke out into a grin and went back to helping him work, “He’s way too good for you.”

Kei nodded, “I know.”

“So when does he land?”

He looked in the direction of the staff room where his phone was safely stored away, “In an hour or two. But he’s thinking about taking the train directly to Osaka instead of staying here.” Shoyou hadn’t told him what he was going to do yet. Open tryouts for the Black Jackals started in two days and both of them knew if he stopped to see Kei there was a chance he wouldn’t be on time or presentable. 

She frowned, “But he’s been away for so long, why can’t he visit?” 

“He went away for volleyball, he’s coming back for volleyball,” he sighed.

Haruka paused, “Where does that leave you?”

-

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Tadashi picked me up

Im going to Osaka

Ill see you as soon as i can!! ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡

I love you! 

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Welcome home

I love you too

-

Kei wanted to throw his phone across the room. He knew that Shoyou would choose to go to Osaka instead of stopping by the apartment. It made sense, he could find somewhere to stay there and rest up and be ready for tryouts instead of dragged into bed by his boyfriend. Just because he knew it was the right choice didn’t make him any less frustrated. 

‘Where does that leave you?’ rang through his head as he trudged his way to class. In the grand scheme of things he came second to volleyball. Or at least he placed behind volleyball and it was his own ego placing himself second, he could be behind his family, or even food. 

He shook his head. This wasn’t the time to spiral. 

Eventually they needed to talk about what they were doing with their relationship. If Shoyou was going to stay in Osaka then they were only separated by a three hour train ride, but that might as well be the other side of the world. Kei was busy every day of week, he didn’t have time to make that journey, and if Shoyou made it on to the Jackals then he was going to put his all into it and be there every day himself. 

When would they actually get to see each other?

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Its so weird to see signs in japanese again

At least they could talk to each other more. 

But what were they doing?

-

When Kei got home some of Shoyou’s luggage was sitting in his doorway. He stared at it and tried to tamper down the hope that bubbled in his stomach. Could he be here? The idiot did love surprises so it wouldn’t be too out of character. 

Kei stepped around the luggage and toed off his shoes, “Shoyou?” he called out to his maybe empty apartment.

Tadashi appeared from around the corner, “sorry, it’s just me. He asked me to bring these here and I figured I’d wait for you.”

His face fell. The hope that he couldn’t keep down soured and he felt much more exhausted than usual, “Oh.” 

Tadashi offered him a sympathetic smile, “Is that any way to greet your best friend?”

“It is when you’re not Shoyou,” he snapped. Tadashi looked taken aback, then sorry for him, which Kei hated. “I’m sorry. I’m tired and don’t know when I can see him. How was he.”

“He looks so different!” Tadashi led Kei to the couch and handed him food that he must have made before Kei arrived, “He cut his hair and he’s so tan, which you probably know because you video chat him, but he also got a bit taller and put on a lot of muscle. He looks good!” 

Kei blushed and tried to hide it behind a bite of food. 

Tadashi simply rolled his eyes at him, “He talked about you basically the whole time. It was like the two of you didn’t talk every day. He said that he’s sorry he has to go to Osaka but if he spends the night here with you before he goes then he won’t make it. Then he blushed bright red and apologized for telling me that.” 

Kei put his face in his hands and groaned.

“Are you okay, though?”

He pulled his hands away from his face and examined them. He hadn’t pulled at his fingers in a while, where would he find the time to indulge in his nervous tick anyway. “What am I doing?” 

Tadashi looked up at him curiously and waited for him to continue, when Kei didn’t he prompted “Hmm? What do you mean?” 

He looked sharply back at him, “I mean we haven’t seen each other in two years and he couldn’t stop by and say hello to me. And now he’s going to get on that team in Osaka and be hours away still. Neither of us will have the time to visit. What am I doing?” It wasn’t often that Kei raised his voice like that.

Tadashi took his time considering the question. He stared at the ceiling, ate a few bites of food, studied Kei’s face as he grew more and more annoyed until he asked, “Do you still love him?” 

“Of course I do,” he scoffed. 

“Then that’s what you’re doing.”

Kei didn’t feel like that answered his question but he wasn’t going to push the issue. 

They finished the rest of the meal in silence, Kei washed the dishes and put everything away, even tidied the already neat kitchen just to expend some of his nervous energy. Tadashi was still hovering though. He wanted to make sure that Kei was okay, but Kei wasn’t sure what he was anymore. 

Tadashi seemed to find something acceptable because he finally rose from the table, “Before I go I was instructed by Shoyou to give you a souvenir.” 

Kei lowered his eyes, he didn’t like how Tadashi said that, “What is it?” 

He was told to wait while Tadashi fished something out of a front pocket of one of Shoyou’s suitcases. The package was small and pliable in his hands. Whatever it was he didn’t want it, he wanted Shoyou instead. It was going to be a terrible gift regardless of what it was. 

He opened it. And it was terrible. 

The shirt was pink. Hot pink. The brightest most obnoxious pink he had ever seen on a shirt. And it was covered in sequins. It was a laughably ugly shirt and if Shoyou was here they could have laughed about it together. 

“I don’t want it. Take it back.” He tried to shove it back into Tadashi’s hands. 

He put his hands up in surrender, “He said to give it to you even after you said you didn’t want it. Just keep it.”

He wore the stupid shirt to bed that night. 

It was uncomfortable. 

-

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

I made the team!!! ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆

I have to stay in Osaka now

Ill see you soon I promise

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Yeah.

-

Shoyou had been home for three months and they still hadn’t found the time to get together. Kei was sure he was grinding his teeth more than usual having his boyfriend just out of reach. He often wondered if he could catch the train after practice, spend the night with Shoyou, and train back in the morning so he was on time for his shift at the museum but that seemed unlikely. 

He was more wound up than usual. They couldn’t figure out a good time to meet up, and it wasn’t as if their teams were in the same division and they could simply wait until they had a match together. But Kei was annoyed at Shoyou. Kei was juggling three things, if he could manage working and school and volleyball then Shoyou should be able to handle volleyball and getting on a train to see his boyfriend every once in a while. 

Kei didn’t voice his frustrations though and that's probably why he was more wound up than usual. If he spoke them aloud to Shoyou he knew, he just knew deep down that he was going to be an asshole and say if they can’t see each other they should just break up, and he didn’t want that. So for the sake of his relationship he was going to be that guy who says nothing. 

And try not to explode. 

At least he was getting better at channeling his frustrations into volleyball. 

-

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

My team is playing Kageyamas team

Guess where

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

The moon

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Salty-shima

Guess!!

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

I don’t have time for this Shoyou.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Sendai Stadium!

Ill get to beat Kageyama and see you in the same day! 

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

You’re coming to Sendai?

When? I need to get that day off.

**To:** Kei (❤ω❤)

 **From:** Hinata Shoyou

Ill send you my schedule

I can only be there for a few days

Can I go home with you after the game?

**To:** Sho-chan

 **From:** Tsukishima Kei

Only if you win. 

\--


	6. Chapter 6

Part 5.

If anyone had told Kei that he would be nervous to see his boyfriend after two years of having a long distance relationship, he would have laughed in their face.

But there he was, at Sendai Stadium hours earlier than he agreed to meet up with Tadashi and Hitoka to watch the match. Shoyou, of course, said that he didn’t have time to meet up before the game and apologized profusely. Kei sighed and said it was fine, and it was, because they were so close to finally seeing each other and he could wait a few more hours if that’s what it took. It probably wasn’t going to kill him.

Apparently he couldn’t stand to wait a few more hours seeing how he arrived at the stadium before they were letting people inside. Luckily he had the right credentials to get inside, all he had to do was show his ID card that said he was part of the Sendai Frogs and they let him in, this was where he regularly trained after all. But once he was inside he didn’t know what he was supposed to do.

For a moment he considered finding the locker room and changing so he could work out in the gym to try and rid himself of some anxiety, but he spent longer than he would like to admit getting dressed this morning so he would look nice when they finally came face-to-face and he didn’t want to put that effort to waste. Besides, there was a chance that he might run into Shoyou, or anyone else that he knew that would bring him to Shoyou, and he didn’t know if he was ready yet.

Which was ridiculous. Of course he was ready to see Shoyou. He was ready practically two and a half years ago when he left in the first place and he’d been ready ever since. But his stomach churned with anxiety anyway. Maybe he should eat something, he left the house without eating breakfast and the game was going to run through lunch. He should at least eat something so he didn’t pass out when he finally did see Shoyou. He just didn’t think he could stomach anything right now.

Instead he paced the hall where shops were setting up and getting ready to sell their goods. He nodded at a few familiar faces but none of them tried to stop him or talk to him, which he appreciated. He long ago mastered the aura of leave-me-alone and few were immune. Soon the chatter in the hall picked up and stalls started warming up their food, filling the hall with pleasant smells. His stomach growled and he glanced at Miya’s riceball stand, but he still wasn’t sure if he could keep it down.

When the doors of the stadium were officially opened Kei found his seat in the stands to avoid the incoming crowd. As he sat he texted Tadashi to tell him he was already inside, Tadashi joked that he had probably been there since the sun rose and Kei didn’t want to tell him that his joke hit too close.

Being in the stands was weird, he wasn’t used to being on this side of the court, especially this court. But it offered a different view. He could see both sides of the net, and although neither team was out yet he was mentally running through plays with invisible players. Falling back on analytics was calming and as the first notes of music was piped in he found anxiety being replaced by excitement. He bit back a small smile.

“So how long have you been here?” Tadashi sat down in the seat next to him and Hitoka waved from one down.

Kei didn’t answer, he kept his eyes on the court where people were starting to file in, coaches and referees, and ball boys. No players yet.

Tadashi nudged his arm and handed him two rice balls, “They’re from Miya. He recognized me even though it’s been years. I got some for you too, I know how you are and I’m positive you haven’t eaten today.”

He took a bite instead of confirming Tadashi’s suspicions. It was really good. They were both gone within minutes.

Hitoka and Tadashi were chatting with each other and letting him eat in peace. When he finished he turned to them and offered Hitoka a small smile over Tadashi’s shoulder, which she returned full force.

“Sorry, today is…” he trailed off. There was no good way for him to complete that sentence and not sound like a lovestruck idiot. He was a lovestruck idiot, and they knew that, but he wanted to keep some of his reputation intact.

“Today is the first time you get to see Shoyou!” She clapped her hands together, having no such reservations, “Tadashi picked him up from the airport and I had to go to Osaka to get something for my mother so I stopped by and saw him so--”

“Wait,” Kei put a hand up stopping her flat, “you saw Shoyou already? He didn’t tell me that.”

She bit her lip and looked away, “He thought you’d be upset if everyone saw him before you did.”

He turned his attention back to the court and tried not to grumble. He was upset that everyone else was seeing him first, but he didn’t want to act like such a child about it. Other people were allowed to see him before he could, it was fine. He was upset that Shoyou felt like he couldn’t tell him about it. Sure, he may get a bit grumpy about it but he wouldn’t get angry that his boyfriend was able to see his friend after so long.

“Who do you think is going to win?” Tadashi jumped in to cut the mounting tension.

“Shoyou.” Kei said without missing a beat.

Hitoka laughed, “I don’t know, Tobio and his team are very good.”

Kei shook his head and kept his eyes on the court, the players were going to come out soon, “It doesn’t matter, Shoyou is going to win. He wants it more.”

Tadashi and Hitoka shared a smile over how sure he sounded.

-

Shoyou was finally on the court and Tadashi had to slap Kei on the back to get him to breath again.

He was beautiful. Video calls didn’t do his new tanned look justice, and he could finally recognize how his shorter haircut made him look older which gave him a bigger sense of I-belong-here. Shoyou really didn’t look like a child anymore. From where he sat Kei could tell that he was a bit taller although not how much, but he could see how much he filled out.

Everywhere on Shoyou was more muscular than before he left. It was something he should have noticed on their calls but since it was a gradual change that happened day by day it almost seemed like nothing was different. But now, having him home and seeing him in person, he could see that his shoulders and chest were wider, his arms stronger, and his legs-- he wanted to see how high Shoyou could jump.

He licked his lips. There were other people on the court too, people he knew like Bokuto and Kageyama, but he didn’t notice them. It would be an exaggeration to say the world stopped turning when Kei finally saw Shoyou, but perhaps it would be accurate to say that the axis of Kei’s world corrected itself.

On the court Shoyou was laughing and joking with his fellow teammates but Kei was sure that every once in a while he saw him stop and scan the crowd. His heart beat a bit harder when he saw it and it was only his pride stopping him from standing and yelling that he was over here.

Tadashi nudged him again, “Calm down and stop looking at him like you’re going to eat him.”

He bit his lip and kept his eyes on Shoyou. He felt like he was going to vibrate out of his skin waiting for this match to end so they could talk and touch and go home (and it hadn’t even started yet!). Kei didn’t need Tadashi to tell him not to sit around like a horny teenager.

And gods, he was acting like one. He had never been so turned on in a public place before, but his hands were tingling with the need to reach out and touch Shoyou and he was so close and he looked so good. Kei crossed his legs and tried to pull himself together. He needed to wait. He could wait. He could do this.

-

When Hinata Shoyou was announced and he took the court, Kei didn’t cheer. He could hear Tadashi and Hitoka cheering, and he was fairly certain he could hear Suga and Tanaka screaming from other sections. But he didn’t cheer. He didn’t stand. No sound would come out of him, all he could do was watch as Shoyou took the court for the first time, Black Jackals jersey tight around his shoulders emblazoned with Hinata, number 21.

He made it.

It’s not that he couldn’t believe it, Kei always knew that Shoyou was going to make it on to a Division 1 team, but he couldn’t believe that he was actually seeing it. He couldn’t hold back his smile.

Kageyama was serving first and Kei knew that he was going to put the ball in a place that was difficult for Shoyou to receive as a test. But as Shoyou received it clearly, quickly getting back up and flying higher than ever before to do a quick attack to get the first point of the game, Kei felt himself let out a shaky breath. Shoyou rose to the challenge and proved his worth.

Shoyou looked wonderful and there were way too many people here. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down, he needed to focus on the volleyball and not on Shoyou. That was a monster of a quick. How would he, as a blocker, try and counter it? That’s what he was good at, shutting down Shoyou’s moves.

But then he did his freak quick attack with someone other than Kageyama. The smile he couldn’t hold back before widened, partially with pride that Shoyou didn’t lose one of his greatest weapons and partially to spite Kageyama who was finally on the receiving end. When he replayed in his mind, his face fell. It was definitely faster than it used to be, he had no idea how to counter that at his current level. It would be superbly difficult.

Shoyou was an absolute monster. Kei wanted him so badly.

When it was Shoyou’s turn to serve, Kei leaned forward in his seat. His jump serve form was amazing but he put too much power into it, probably from excitement, and it went out of bounds. Kei snickered behind his hands.

Kei watched how Shoyou placed himself in relation to the blockers, noticed where he left space and where he chose to move. He shook his head when he realized that he was baiting the attackers. Shoyou really cleaned up his defensive game. Kei wanted to play on the same side of the net as him again, to remember what it was like to count on him being there.

He watched as Shoyou perfectly set the ball. He watched as he pulled off an amazing back attack. He watched as Shoyou pulled off a left-handed spike from a setting position. He watched as Shoyou easily received a monster spike. He watched as Shoyou won. And Kei knew that their time apart wasn’t wasted.

Kei suffered through the match with a frustrating combination of annoyance and arousal. The game was on another level than what he was used to even though he was only one division lower. He felt antsy at the barest thought of sharing the court with any of those players. But then he would zero in on Shoyou again and remember that one of those players was coming home with him tonight.

At the last whistle, Tadashi groaned, “Aw, it’s over.”

Kei shook his head and watched Shoyou congratulate his team and make faces at Kageyama, “No, it’s just starting.” Kei couldn’t look at Tadashi in fear of what his own eyes would reveal about how he was feeling.

Tadashi hummed in agreement, “You’re sticking around here to see him right? I texted him this morning and we talked about meeting for dinner later. He agreed…” he trailed off and waited for his friend to confirm or deny they would be there.

But Kei wasn’t listening, he was watching Shoyou sign autographs and talk to children about the match.

“Kei!” Tadashi shook his shoulder.

He jumped at the sudden touch, “What?”

“Dinner? The five of us? Tobio said he’d be there too,” he insisted again.

“Yeah, sure, we’ll be there.”

-

Kei waited for the stands to empty before he approached the court. Shoyou was talking to some official looking people so he hovered on the sideline near where other players were still giving out autographs and chatting with fans.

“Hey, hey, hey, Tsukki!” Bokuto spotted him and gleefully waved him over. Kei glanced in Shoyou’s direction again but he was still busy so he made his way towards Bokuto. “Did you enjoy the match? Weren’t we awesome?”

Bokuto was as boisterous as ever but it was comforting to know that some things never changed. Kei nodded and they talked about specific plays while Bokuto signed a few last things. The court had quieted down since most of the spectators had left but during his conversation Shoyou seemed to have disappeared.

“He’s probably in the locker room. I’ll bring you back!” Bokuto tugged him out of the stands and on to the court. Some people glared at him but Bokuto waved them off. He was charming enough that the guards were going to let him drag a random person around on the court if he said he was okay with it. One of the benefits of being the ace, he guessed.

Bokuto practically dragged him to the tunnel that would lead to the inner part of the stadium. It wasn’t that Kei didn’t want to see Shoyou, it was that he didn’t want Bokuto there when he did. In all of the simulations he ran and fantasies he had about their first meeting, he never included this type of variable. This over excited variable definitely wasn’t going to leave them alone, and through the tunnel there were a handful of people he knew and even more people Shoyou was friends with that also weren’t going to leave them alone. He’d take their meeting elsewhere, thanks.

But Bokuto wasn’t going to let up. At the entrance to the tunnel was a guard who was only supposed to let in players, staff, some news crews, and support people. All of those people had the correct credentials to get through the door. Kei had Bokuto vouching for him.

“C’mon! He’s with me! We’re going to see Shoyou, tell ‘em Tsukki,” Bokuto turned his wide eyes to Kei like he would be able to get past the guard on his own.

Kei put his hands up, “What do you expect me to do? I can see him later.”

But Bokuto lit up anyway, “Oh! Shoyou told me you play here!” He turned to the guard, “He’s on the Sendai Frogs, he’s here all the time. Do you recognize him?”

The guard looked Kei up and down. He had the height to be a volleyball player, although some players absolutely towered over him in the professional leagues, but when he was all dressed up and not wearing his sports glasses he didn’t always look like the same person who played on the court. “Do you have an ID?”

Kei sighed and pulled out his wallet to get his Sendai Frogs ID card. That coupled with Bokuto vouching for him was enough to get him past the guard and into the tunnel. Bokuto was ecstatic that it worked but Kei wished it didn’t. As his feet walked him forward he silently willed himself to turn around but he knew these halls too well and could get to the locker rooms even if he was blindfolded.

As they rounded another corner he finally heard Shoyou’s booming voice. Him and Miya were loudly talking about how they thought they could make their freak-quick attack even faster than it was already. Kei’s first instinct was to roll his eyes, he finally made it and he was still pushing himself to improve, that was so like Shoyou.

Another corner and he finally saw Shoyou.

Up close, even from down the hall, Shoyou looked better than he did on the court. His smile was bright and true and stopped Kei in his tracks.

Bokuto didn’t notice that Kei had stopped walking besides him, he jogged up to greet his teammates with a hard slap on the back and a booming laugh. Kei watched them, silently, from a distance. It was taking all he had to stand there.

Shoyou grinned, “There you are, Boku--”

He froze when he saw Kei standing behind his errant teammate. Kei didn’t know if it was the same for Shoyou but everything else fell away when they made eye contact. He was sure that Bokuto and Miya were still talking but he couldn’t hear anything else other than the pounding of his heart. Kei wanted to take a step forward and get closer to him but he was grounded in place.

They stared at each other from down the hallway. He had no idea for how long.

“Kei,” Shoyou eventually got out, “how did you…”

Kei ran a hand through his hair, “Bokuto…” he trailed off as well and mentally cursed himself. The first thing he says to Shoyou when he sees him in person is Bokuto? He couldn’t say hello or I missed you or even his name? This is why he didn’t want to be dragged here.

Shoyou stumbled forward, maybe he was slapped on the back or pushed or was attempting to walk forward himself, but he made the first step to bring them closer and Kei found himself following suit. They didn’t run towards each other, but their long quick strides brought them together as fast as if they had.

Shoyou reached out and grabbed Kei’s coat, pulling them together for their last step. Kei cupped his cheek to stop him from burying his head in his chest, he wanted Shoyou to look up at him. Shoyou whimpered quietly at the contact and Kei muttered a soft ‘fuck’ under his breath. Shoyou was already panting slightly and Kei wanted to run his thumb across his lips, he wanted to kiss him.

“Hinata!” a voice boomed out and Kei barely contained a groan because Kageyama would choose right now to show up and talk about their years long rivalry and how it’s not over yet and blah blah.

To his credit, Shoyou didn’t move. His hands twitched around Kei’s jacket but they were still caught in each other’s gaze.

Kageyama groaned from across the room, “Are they already being disgusting?” A few more players had gathered since they reunited and most of them were watching. They hadn’t noticed any of it. “They couldn’t wait at all?”

“Who is he?” A player that Kei had already forgotten the name of asked.

“That’s Shoyou’s boyfriend!” Bokuto replied helpfully.

“Shoyou has a boyfriend?” He sounded more surprised than disgusted, which was a relief, but Kei didn’t have time for this impromptu coming out session. There had to be a way to get away from all of these people and he wasn’t afraid of being impolite to get there.

He finally gave in and ran his thumb across Shoyou’s lower lip. “Shoyou…” he murmured quiet enough so the others wouldn’t hear him.

Shoyou parted his lips and closed his eyes, he was so pliable under Kei’s hands and Kei wondered how much trouble he would get in if he just picked him up and carried him out. It wasn’t kidnapping if the victim was willing.

He bit Kei’s thumb and Kei had to suck in a harsh breath. “Shoyou, we--”

Shoyou was pulled away from him. “Hinata you idiot, you have interviews to do!” Kageyama scolded him even though they weren’t on the same team.

Kei grabbed his hand and kept hold of him. He may not have wanted to meet up this way but they were together again and he wasn’t going to let go so quickly. Kageyama and Kei glared at each other over Shoyou’s head. The two parts of Shoyou’s life didn’t need to fight so obviously.

“You know this is a big deal,” he told Kei, “so let him go.”

His grip on Shoyou’s hand tightened. He didn’t want to be told to let him go. He’d considered it too many times himself, he didn’t need Kageyama of all people to reinforce those thoughts. Of course Kageyama only meant to let him go for the moment so Shoyou could fulfill his responsibilities but Kei could only hear, let him go so Shoyou could have his career.

Shoyou glanced quickly between Kei and Kageyama, “Tobio,” he pleaded, “we need a few minutes, please.”

He turned his attention back to Kei. It was like they were magnetically drawn to each other. There was no way he could ever let go.

“I know where we could go,” Kei pulled Shoyou through the crowd of people, some of which he recognized and some he didn’t, but none of which he was paying attention to. Shoyou willingly let himself be led.

“I’ll be back soon,” he called over his shoulder to his teammates as they rounded a corner, “I promise!”

Down three more hallways they were deeper inside the stadium and near empty rooms mostly used as conference rooms or for team meetings. Kei and Shoyou went into an unlocked room and finally they were alone.

They eyed each other, waiting for someone to make the first move. The air around them was thick and hot. Kei wanted to take off his coat but instead he reached out and ran his fingers through Shoyou’s short hair, tugging lightly at the ends.

Shoyou couldn’t hold back his moan, “Kei…”

“Hmm, I told you I couldn’t tell you if I liked it until I touched it.” He ran his fingers through his hair a few more times and felt a small thrill when Shoyou leaned into the touch.

“What do you think?” he whispered.

Kei stopped his fingers at the top of Shoyou’s head and pulled at what he could, “It could stand to be a touch longer.”

Shoyou’s eyes darkened and he roughly pushed Kei further into the room and up against a wall. “Sit.” He commanded with a hoarse voice. Kei slid down the wall and Shoyou came down with him to straddle his lap.

He hovered his lips right over Kei’s but pulled back when Kei leaned forward. “I can’t kiss you right now, Kei,” he pressed their foreheads together and stroked Kei’s lips with his pointer and middle fingers, “Kei if we kiss right now we’re going to have sex in this conference room.” Shoyou’s breathing was shallow, like he was considering the idea.

Before he could stop himself Kei opened his mouth to trap Shoyou’s fingers and sucked on them lightly. He didn’t register any taste but did notice how Shoyou took in a sharp breath then closed his eyes to try and calm himself down. He tried to pull his fingers out of Kei’s mouth but Kei grabbed his wrist and pushed them back in. Shoyou bit back a moan as Kei sucked on his fingers and couldn’t help but pump them in and out of his mouth.

“We shouldn’t,” he whispered in awe as he watched his boyfriend’s lips get shiny with his saliva, “we should wait.”

Kei scoffed around his fingers and pushed them out of his mouth, Shoyou watched his lips in remorse, “We’ve been waiting for over two years. Just let me touch you.”

Shoyou buried his head in Kei’s neck and tried not to grind down on him, “You make this so hard. I want to, I do.”

Kei ran his fingers through Shoyou’s hair, always tugging lightly before the next stroke and making Shoyou squirm around in his lap, “Just want to touch you,” he whispered to the top of his head.

Shoyou looked up sharply, almost banging his forehead against Kei’s chin, “But I still can’t kiss you right now.

He brought his lips mere centimeters away from his lover’s, “Fine, but I’ll have you begging me to kiss you soon.” Kei almost missed Shoyou’s quiet whimper but felt the vibrations when he pressed his nose against Shoyou’s neck. They took a moment to let their breathing even out, trying to calm down the high that was being in each other’s presence. But Kei wanted that high, he nuzzled deeper into Shoyuo’s neck, he wanted to feel Shoyou want him.

Lightly he dragged his lips over his neck and jaw, Shoyou tilted his head inviting the touch and gasped loudly when Kei replaced his lips with his tongue. His tongue was hot and warm and teased delicate skin with it’s meandering path.

“You smell good.”

Shoyou’s hands flew to Kei’s belt and fiddled with the buckle. He wanted them to be closer right this instant but, he gulped, he knew it wasn’t the right time or place. So he let out a small, fake laugh, “I smell like sweat, I haven’t even showered yet. I’m probably gross.”

Kei dragged his teeth along Shoyou’s neck with nowhere near enough force to leave a mark, “You smell like Shoyou, I missed this smell in my bed.”

“Fuck,” he whispered as he toyed with Kei’s belt some more.

When Kei finally bit him, rational thought left the room. He pushed his hips against Kei’s seeking the friction they both wanted. They moved in a steady rhythm against each other and Shoyou wondered how long it would take for him to come from just this. It had been so long since Kei touched him, he couldn’t imagine that he would last very long.

But then Kei bit down harder with the clear intention to mark him. Shoyou still marvelled about how oddly clear his skin looked when it wasn’t littered with lovebites and hickies. It was a look that he missed, for sure, but people also stared at him more when faced with the evidence of his lover’s possessiveness. It was also a look that he couldn’t have right now.

“Stop!” he yelped, “You can’t leave a mark.”

Kei paused and pulled back to look at him questioningly. Shoyou groaned inwardly, it should be illegal for Kei to look so appealing when he was trying not to have sex in this random conference room. But the sight of Kei panting lightly with his pupils blown, lips pink, and chin slick went straight to his groin.

“In my contract,” he managed to get out before he had to lick his suddenly dry lips, “In my contract is a decency clause.”

Kei frowned at him.

“Part of that means I need to be ‘presentable’ and you like to leave me… undecently unpresentable.”

“Indecently.” Kei corrected him automatically, “So you’re saying--”

“You can’t leave any mark where anyone would see,” he said firmly.

Kei smiled wickedly at him and slipped his hands up Shoyou’s shirt to scratch at his abs, “Then I’ll just have to mark here then. Lie down.”

Shoyou’s eyes widened, “No, no, no, if you do that then we’ll definitely have sex right now. Later. Please, I want it. But later.”

Kei moved his hands from his abs to his back, faintly trailing his fingers up, up, up until he reached Shoyou’s shoulder blades before he roughly scratched his way down. No one would see that under his shirt, although he might have to deal with some ribbing in the locker room, which Kei was fine with because he wouldn’t have to hear any of it this time. But he needed to leave some kind of reminder behind.

Shoyou moaned and surged up to kiss him but stopped himself at the last second, “I have to go.”

“No. Stay,” he mumbled, so close to his lips yet again.

“If I stay…” he swallowed, “If I stay I’m going to fuck you.”

Kei let out a small huff of a laugh, “Do it,” he challenged.”

“Keiiii,” Shoyou whined, “Why do you have to make this so hard?”

“You’re making this hard yourself,” he said impishly as he cupped Shoyou through his shorts. “All you.”

Shoyou rutted against his palm. He didn’t want to come in his pants but Kei seemed so determined to get him off and who was he to deny his love such a simple pleasure. But it wasn’t so simple because he needed to go and shower and have a team meeting that he was definitely late for and do some interviews about his debut.

He stood up without warning and looked down at Kei, who peered up at him curiously. It was a bad decision. His erection was so close to Kei’s face, it would be so easy to get a quick blowjob and leave no mess and-- He took a step back.

Kei stood up too, he was so tall. Hesitantly he took a step forward and reached out to run his fingers through Shoyou’s hair again. He didn’t pull, simply arranged his hair so it looked neater. He dragged his hand down his chin and wiped away saliva that gathered in the corner of his mouth, then went down his neck and straightened his shirt.

Shoyou took in a breath, “What are you doing?”

“Making you look presentable,” he murmured back as his hands traveled to Shoyou’s waistband. Kei’s lips quirked upwards for a fraction of a second and Shoyou would have missed it if he wasn’t studying his face intently. Kei pushed lightly against Shoyou’s erection and tucked it into his waistband so it wasn’t as obvious. “There, much better.”

Shoyou burned with want. Need. Something.

Kei pressed his lips to Shoyou’s forehead and stayed there, “please let me kiss you. Please.”

Shoyou bit his lip, he wanted to give in, he did, “Now who's begging?”

“Please, Sho,” he whispered.

He closed his eyes, “Soon, so soon.”

Then Shoyou was gone again.

Kei leaned against the wall and just tried. He tried to process his first meeting with his lover in so long. He tried not to blame either of them on the fact their meeting didn’t go as he wanted. He tried to calm down his arousal and his sadness and his anger. It was pretty well known that Kei wasn’t always the best with his emotions but right now he couldn’t figure out just what he was feeling.

Because on the surface he was unbearably turned on. Having Shoyou’s body against him and feeling his skin and hearing his voice in person was enough to do that to him right now without the added sexual tension of not being able to do what he wanted. Arousal was the easiest to decipher and the easiest to deal with. He could get off by himself if he wanted to, if he wasn’t so tangled up.

Under that was frustration. He was frustrated that Bokuto dragged him to the back and he was frustrated that Kageyama ruined their reunion by talking about volleyball obligations and he was frustrated that Shoyou so adamantly wouldn’t kiss him. He understood the reasoning of course, there was a good chance that they would have ignored their surroundings and simply tried to be one with each other again. It would have gotten them in trouble, big trouble even, but part of him still believed it would have been worth it.

The simmering anger was the most annoying. Because how dare Shoyou leave for two years and come back and not see him. And how dare Shoyou finally see him and then leave him again for volleyball. And how dare Kei himself be mad at his boyfriend for following his dreams and holding to his commitments.

“Kei?” he heard the quiet and hesitant voice before he felt the tugging at the hem of his shirt. Shoyou had come back. He chewed on his bottom and tried to meet Kei’s eye, but Kei was avoiding him.

“I remembered that you’re moody,” he tried to joke but the tightening of his grip gave away the seriousness of his emotions, “so I needed to come back. I love you. I need you to know that I want to stay here with you and kiss you, well I want to go home with you right now and kiss you. I don’t… I don’t actually want to go talk to people about volleyball right now. Isn’t that weird? I just want to stay with you. I missed you so much.”

Kei covered Shoyou’s hands with his own and untangled them from his shirt so he could bring them to his mouth and kiss them. “I love you too, and I’ll see you for dinner. Do what you have to do.”

Shoyou’s eyes sparkled, “You’re on that list too, y’know.”

“Of course.”

When Shoyou left this time, he deflated. He felt relieved knowing that Shoyou wanted to stay with him, that he wanted to stay with him over gushing about his professional volleyball debut. It was reassuring that he was still wanted.

He was still left horny and alone in a back hallway of the stadium though.

Kei was more than a bit ashamed about what he was about to do, but it needed to be done. Right now. He was lucky that he knew these halls well enough to find a private bathroom and find it without running into too many people. He didn’t want to explain what he was doing here on his day off, how he got back here, why he was so deep in the stadium, and why he was hard on top of all of that.

Kei quadruple checked that the door was locked-- he was not about to be walked in on-- before he unbuckled his pants. He slowly coiled up his belt and placed it on the sink countertop, contemplating if he was really going to do what he wanted to do. Even as he unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down his hips he was unsure. Even while he peeled away his underwear and freed his flagging erection he contemplated leaving the bathroom and returning to the sanctity of his apartment.

To: Kei (❤ω❤)  
From: Hinata Shoyou  
This is your fault  
[IMG: Shoyou’s hand covered in semen]

He groaned when he saw the contents of the text. His body definitely took interest in the fact that Shoyou also couldn’t wait for him. Kei took himself in hand and thought about Shoyou getting himself off just hallways away. In his offhand he texted back.

To: Sho-chan  
From: Tsukishima Kei  
What have I said about sexting?

And he was a bit worried about that, the fact that they both had professional careers to worry about and didn’t need to literally be caught with their pants down-- it wasn’t worth the risk to their reputations. But he didn’t want to be thinking of that right now, he wanted the think of Shoyou telling him that he had to leave or else he was going to fuck him. A small moan escaped his lips. Shoyou fucking him was so rare he didn’t realize just how much he wanted it.

To: Kei (❤ω❤)  
From: Hinata Shoyou  
Is it really sexting if Im done?

To: Sho-chan  
From: Tsukishima Kei  
I’m not done.

Kei bit his lip and pictured Shoyou blushing a bright red at the knowledge of his boyfriend getting off right this second. He was so unfairly attractive when he blushed, he wanted to see that blush for the rest of the night. Kei shoved the second knuckles of two fingers of his mouth and bit down on them to prevent any other sounds from escaping.

To: Kei (❤ω❤)  
From: Hinata Shoyou  
OH

Glad I lent a hand

He scoffed at his phone, Shoyou would make a pun right now, the dumbass. He wanted to yell at him for making jokes when he was trying to get off but he also wanted to pull him into bed and trade stupid jokes until they laughed themselves silly. Gods, he just wanted Shoyou and he was so close.

To: Sho-chan  
From: Tsukishima Kei  
I hate you so much

He needed to take his fingers out of his mouth to text back so he bit down hard on his bottom lip to restrain himself instead. When did he get so soft that he just wanted to lay in bed and tell Shoyou he loved him. When did that soft image become enough to get him off?

To: Sho-chan  
From: Tsukishima Kei  
But I’m done.

Please make sure you delete that picture.

To: Kei (❤ω❤)  
From: Hinata Shoyou  
Already did

I know the rules

And i have a professional decency rule now too

Kei had enough decency to clean up after himself and remove evidence of his time there. He snuck out of the stadium without being noticed.

\--

Kei didn’t want to be the first person at the restaurant the five of them were going to meet at so he paced around his apartment until he would only be politely early rather than desperately earlier. Then he took the long way there to kill more time so he would be on time rather than politely earlier. He was counting on Tadashi and Hitoka being there early.

He was not disappointed.

The restaurant was small and homey, him and Tadashi had gone there to eat a few times in the past and when he walked in the door one of the owners recognized him and smiled. He gave her a small smile as he made his way to the table his friends occupied in the center of the room. Tadashi and Hitoka sat on one side of the low table talking quietly to each other, having not yet noticed his presence.

He sat gracelessly across from Tadashi without saying a word, hoping not to interrupt whatever they were talking about but they stopped to greet him regardless.

Hitoka looked at him oddly and glanced at the door, then back to him and the door again. She wasn’t as discreet as she was trying to be.

“I’m here by myself,” he said before she could spin some fantastical tale and work herself into a tizzy over something that couldn’t possibly happen, “Shoyou had responsibilities to take care of after the game so he’s going to meet us here.”

“Okay…” she said carefully. He could tell from her tone that she wanted to ask how he was doing or how he felt about it but he didn’t particularly want to talk about that at this moment.

“I got to see him though,” he cut in to prevent her from asking about his deeper feelings. Kei bit his lip and tried not to blush, but judging from the look she was giving him back he didn’t succeed, “It was nice to see him.”

Tadashi snorted, “I’m sure it was. I’m surprised to see you here.”

Kei glared at him, Tadashi was getting bold in his old age. “Shoyou has things he needs to do and he wants to see you as well. He’s still coming home with me.”

“When is he leaving?” Tadashi’s voice and expression turned serious as he regarded his best friend. He hated to see Kei heartbroken and brooding.

“Just a few days,” Kei stared at his hands to avoid Tadashi’s intense gaze and Hitoka’s sorrowful expression. He didn’t need them feeling sorry for him. He leaned back and stared at the ceiling, “I’ll talk to him about how he wants to do this.”

Hitoka’s brow furrowed, “Do this?”

He kept looking at the ceiling, “Our relationship. It’s still long-distance. What we want to do about it.”

“Oh, are you--”

The door to the restaurant opened and the three of them eagerly turned to look if it was their missing friends. Kageyama strode through the door with a confused look on his face that calmed when he saw their table. Tadashi and Hitoka waved at him but Kei kept his focus on the door hoping that Shoyou was going to trail in after yelling about how Kageyama cheated on their race over or something to that effect. But the door remained closed.

Kageyama took a seat at the head of the table next to Hitoka. Some would think he was being generous in leaving the spot next to Kei for Shoyou but he simply didn’t want to sit next to Kei. They were civil with each other, definitely a step above acquaintances although Kei didn’t think highly enough of himself to call them rivals or anything like that, so they were sort of friends. Just not I’ll-sit-next-to-you-at-a-restaurant type friends.

“Yo,” he greeted them with a quick wave as he sat down.

“That was a great game!” Hitoka immediately gushed at him, “Your serves definitely would have broken my arms.”

Kageyama had to hold back a smile at the comment about his serves, it was very Hitoka-like. But it was easy for him to school his features into a neutral expression, “I still lost to that dumbass. Who knew he would get so good.” His eyes went wide, “Don’t tell him I said anything like that!”

A devilish smile spread across Kei’s face, “I’ll be sure to tell him that you plan on relinquishing your crown to him.”

“Looks like you’re still an asshole,” Kageyama scoffed.

“Looks like you’re still an idiot,” Kei threw back, “and now maybe you won’t have volleyball to fall back on. Maybe my little Division 2 team can beat you.”

He didn’t know why he was antagonizing Kageyama or why he was doing it with such intensity but seeing the other man turn bright red did make him feel better about Shoyou’s absence. The familiar bickering was comforting even if he knew that he was being particularly mean about his loss earlier that day. But on the other hand it was Kageyama so Kei figured he deserved it for one reason or another. Tadashi would tell him off later and Hitoka would ask him to please try and be nicer but for now they could trade barbs.

Kageyama frowned at him, “There’s no way your team could win. We’re in different divisions for a reason.”

The way Kageyama said that with no malice, like it was fact (even if it was), pissed him off even more than if Kageyama had openly taunted him.

Before he could respond the door to the restaurant slammed open.

“I’m here!” Shoyou yelled to the entire restaurant. His eyes scanned the room before he found the table with his friends and he quickly made his way over. “I hope you didn’t wait too long. I was lectured for so long!”

“Lectured?”

Shoyou nodded eagerly as he took his seat next to Kei and pulled Kei’s hand into his lap, “Reporters wanted to talk to me about my first professional game so someone from the team talked to me for a long time about how to talk to them and then I actually got to talk to them and then the team manager told to me how I talked to them wrong!”

Kageyama snickered from behind his hand, “Dumbass.”

“How did you talk to them wrong?” Hitoka asked, confused.

Shoyou sighed over-dramatically, “I--”

“Described everything in ‘whams’ and ‘kyaas’?” Kei cut in to guess.

His boyfriend turned to glare at him but his cheeks tinted pink slightly, “Not everything! Just a few things… But they were all kyaa and gwaa, I didn’t know what else to call them. So I think the reporters think I’m a dumb kid, which I didn’t want, then I needed to talk with the club about my image or something.”

Tadashi leaned forward and rested his chin on his hand, “You don’t need to change everything about who you are just to play.”

“Oh…” he turned to Kei, “um, they said because my debut was flashy that there was a chance a reporter or someone may follow me because they don’t know a lot about me and, uh,” he scratched the back of his neck with the hand that wasn’t holding Kei’s and lowered his voice, “if you don’t want to be outed we shouldn’t--”

“It’s fine.” Kei cut him off and squeezed his hand.

There was an awkward silence at the table until Tadashi broke out in a grin and clapped his hands together, “Kei I’m so proud of you!” He sounded like a parent congratulating a small child. Kei didn’t know where it was going but he already didn’t like it.

“Haah?”

“You said you saw Shoyou but I don’t see one bite mark on him.” He taunted.

Kageyama groaned loudly, “Ugh, you two are disgusting.”

“Oh I wouldn’t let him,” Shoyou said casually, like this was normal and appropriate dinner conversation.

“Why not?” Hitoka chimed in. Kei shot her a look. Et tu, Hitoka?

Shoyou waved a hand dismissively, “Contract reason.” Kei buried his face in his hand as Kageyama nodded like he completely understood. Tadashi looked between the three of them, obviously missing something, so Shoyou helpfully enlightened him, “I have a decency clause in my contract that says I have to be presentable.”

“Oh, so it specifically targets Tsukki.”

“I hate all of you.”

-

Food was ordered and served and the table was covered with more food than Kei believed the five of them could possibly eat but then he remembered that the table has not one but two bottomless pits. Both Shoyou and Kageyama would eat multiple times more than he would, even if they hadn’t played volleyball today. After recalculating, maybe they ordered just enough food for all of them.

When everyone started eating, Kei and Shoyou ran into a problem, they didn’t want to let go of each other. It was a dumb problem, he admitted, they were both right there and not going anywhere except home with each other when this was over, but neither of them wanted to let go. Shoyou helpfully suggested that he could eat with his left hand no problem and Kei could use his right so they could eat and hold hands.

“When did you learn to use chopsticks in your left hand?” Hitoka asked when she realized he wasn’t having any problem.

He smiled brightly at her, “When I was training to spike left handed I was doing everything else left handed too so I could be…” he trailed off and tugged at Kei’s hand, “Use both hands?”

“Ambidextrous.”

“Ambidextrous! So both of my hands are good at everything now!”

Kei pushed his glasses up his nose to hide a blush but caught Tadashi silently laughing at him until Hitoka wished aloud that she was ambidextrous too and he broke into a coughing fit.

“Well!” Tadashi said, trying to change the subject, “How long are you two in town?”

Kageyama kept eating, the innuendo had either gone over his head or he was ignoring it. The former was most likely. He finished his bite, “I leave tomorrow night. We’re supposed to rest before we travel but I’m going to see if they'll let me into the gym to practice for a while.”

Hitoka frowned at him, “Tobio we’ve talked about this. Don’t overwork yourself. You’ll just get hurt or sick and you won’t be able to play.”

“I’m not going to do anything strenuous, I just want to hit the ball,” he grumbled. It was something everyone at the table could understand, especially after losing a big and long awaited match.

“I’ll be here for three more days,” Shoyou piped up, “I asked for some time before I had to leave and the coach was really nice. He said because I was from the area and was away for a while I could stay for a bit. It’s not a lot…” He looked at Kei who was looking back at him, Shoyou never told him that he specifically asked for more time here, “but it’s something.”

Kei squeezed his hand.

“Will we see you again at all or is Kei going to kidnap you?” Tadashi teased.

Kei made a face, “I don’t have the next three days off. I’ll be working at least and Shoyou will probably drag me to practice if I try and skip.”

Shoyou lit up, “Do you think your team will let me practice with them?”

“But I can get notes from Hitoka and skip class…” he continued like he wasn’t interrupted.

Shoyou gave him a dopey smile, “I can’t believe you and Hitoka are friends now.”

Kei rolled his eyes, “Hardly.”

“Kei has a friend~” he sang.

“Shut up, Shoyou.”

“Make me,” he said challengingly.

Shoyou regretted the words the second they left his lips. Kei gave him a predatory smile and leaned closer like he was going to kiss him. Since his arrival at the restaurant they had unspokenly agreed not to kiss, their prior meeting still in mind, and kept their joint hands as the only point of contact. But with Kei leaning closer Shoyou couldn’t help but focus fully on his lips and how much he wanted to kiss them.

He could feel the tension around them spike and knew his grip on Kei’s hand must have passed painful a ways back, but he could only focus on just how slowly he was approaching and how good Kei smelled and how soon he would be back in Kei’s bed surrounded by this scent and this person.

Shoyou let out a small whimper.

Kei bypassed Shoyou’s lips and whispered in his ear, “I win.”

Tadashi clapped his hands together to break the tension, “Well if you’re done trying to seduce each other in public, and may I remind you that you’re already going home with each other, then we can move on. Tsukki, have you eaten at all?”

He glanced at his plate, he had put a few things he had planned on eating in front of him and most of it was still there. Kei grumbled as he picked up his chopsticks, Tadashi wasn’t his mother and he didn’t need to act like it, but hunger definitely was one of the feelings swirling around in his stomach.

Kei ate quietly for a few minutes until he couldn’t stomach anymore. His plate still wasn’t empty and the majority of the table would want to have words with him about his eating habits, but he wasn’t in the habit of listening to them. He ate enough to sustain himself even if he wasn’t stuffing his face; besides, food wasn’t going to help his nerves.

He looked affectionately at Shoyou who was talking animatedly with Kageyama with his one free hand. No matter what he was doing Shoyou always seemed to be having a good time, it was nice to watch him have fun.

While Shoyou was talking Kei noticed a smear of sauce in the corner of his mouth, a bit below his lower lip. On instinct he reached over and brushed it away. Shoyou froze mid-word at the contact.

Kei licked the sauce off his thumb and watched his boyfriend turn bright red.

“WELL,” Shoyou yelled as he stood up and pulled Kei up with him, drawing the attention of other restaurant patrons, “We need to go now. Thanks for dinner.” For the first time that night he let go of Kei’s hand so he could find his wallet and pull out some money, “This is for our share, bye.”

Kei smirked and waved goodbye while Shoyou dragged him out.

-

When they hit the cooler night air Shoyou rounded on him, “You!” he jabbed Kei in the chest, “You! Ugh! Why are you so… so… ugh!”

“Because I make your heart go bwaa?” Kei laughed at his boyfriend’s frustration and led the way to his-- their-- apartment.

“Shut up,” Shoyou crossed his arms, “You don’t deserve to make my heart go bwaa.”

Kei bumped his shoulder, “You love me anyway.” They walked a few more steps, picking up the pace, “Besides, you do the same to me.”

Shoyou gasped over-dramatically, “Is Tsukishima Kei saying he loves me?”

Kei shoved him.

At their fast pace the walk to the apartment building took no time at all. Kei tried not to be nervous, it wasn’t like he was inviting a new lover to his place for the first time. This was Shoyou. This was Shoyou who he loved for years and who lived here for months. (And would be gone in days.) He removed the key from his pocket and decided to make it the best few days he could.

Tensions rose again once they were inside. Kei calmly locked the door behind him, they sat and removed their shoes, then took a moment to stare at each other. This was it, this was the moment they had been waiting for all day, and for so much longer.

Shoyou pushed Kei to the floor and straddled his lap, there would be plenty of time later to get out of the entryway, he needed to do this now. He reached down and cupped Kei’s cheek, Kei’s hand covered his for a brief moment before trailing up his arm to his neck and pulling him down. They paused for a split second before their lips met for the first time in over two years but they couldn’t take their familiar teasing game right now.

If you had asked them what their first kiss after so long would be like, they would have guessed desperate and eager and hungry, but it wasn’t. The edge of desperation they felt for each other was slightly qwelled when they saw each other earlier, even if they got off separately. They still needed and wanted but right now they could appreciate being together rather than have to get rid of frantic energy.

Their first kiss was soft, full of overly bitten chapped lips and overwhelming love. Kei’s fingers flexed around the back of Shoyou’s neck like he wanted to pull him closer while Shoyou lovingly stroked his cheek. They pulled back slowly but not wanting to be apart they pushed closer together again, trading gentle kiss after gentle kiss.

“Hey,” Shoyou murmured against his lips.

Kei captured his lips again, “Welcome home,” he ran his hands down Shoyou’s back and gripped his thighs to pull them back into a sitting position, “We don’t have to lay on the floor.”

Shoyou chuckled softly, “are you trying to get me into bed, meu amor?”

Kei blushed bright red at the pet name and pushed Shoyou off his lap, “Shut up, let’s go.” He offered Shoyou his hand and pulled him to his feet.

They walked the familiar path down the hallway until Shoyou got a mischievous glint in his eye and shoved Kei against the wall to kiss him again. They didn’t hurry, keeping the pace slow and sweet. Kei slid down the wall a bit to even out their awkward angle and Shoyou let out a small frustrated grunt over the fact their height difference was still so great. But he didn’t mind Kei rearranging himself too much because it offered him better access to his lover’s mouth. Again and again they kissed, as if making up for the years of missed connection, the years of quick good morning and goodbye and just because kisses that could have been. They wanted to make up for all of it.

“I’m going to start to think you don’t want to come to bed with me,” Kei smiled.

Shoyou smiled back, “You never make it easy for me. Why should I make it easy for you?”

Kei bit Shoyou’s bottom lip as punishment but when Shoyou moaned into his mouth Kei didn’t feel like he had done any punishing. He wanted him to make that sound again, it had been so long since he got to kiss him like that. “Please, Sho, c’mon.”

“Needy,” Shoyou teased, but they kept moving towards the bedroom. Once they were inside Kei wasted no time removing Shoyou’s shirt and pants. He laughed, “Someone is eager.”

“Shut up,” Kei bit out before removing his own shirt and pants.

They laid together in their underwear, taking a moment to smile at each other and appreciate that they were finally together again. Shoyou took a deep breath to take in Kei’s scent, he felt safe and content being surrounded by the person that he loved. It was nice to be so comfortable, to be able to touch each other freely and see each other not through a screen. They didn’t want it to end.

Shoyou yawned widely in Kei’s face, “Sorry. I didn’t realize I was tired. Was the bed always this comfortable.”

Kei pulled Shoyou onto his bare chest and he wiggled a bit to get comfortable, “Yeah, it’s impossible to get out of bed in the morning,” he kissed the top of Shoyou’s head, “and with you here it’s going to be even harder.”

“We’ve got a few days. Can we just sleep now?” he asked with his eyes already getting heavy and drifting off.

“Sleep. You’re here. That’s all I wanted.”

-

Kei was going to murder his alarm clock. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep in more and he was having the best dream. He shot straight up, making himself dizzy and knocking Shoyou out of the bed.

“Hey!” he called from the floor, “I was sleeping!”

Kei stared at him. The alarm was still going off so this probably wasn’t a dream. “You’re still here.”

Shoyou laid on the floor and rubbed his eyes, “Where else would I be? You said if I won I could come home with you. I’m not sure what you would have done if I lost but--” he was interrupted by Kei getting on the floor with him and hugging him tightly.

“I thought that was a dream,” he said to Shoyou’s shoulder.

He hugged him back, “Can you turn your alarm off? I’m still here y’know.”

“Shut up, Sho.”

“You know I never do,” he said too cheerfully for the hour, “So… why is your alarm going off?”

Kei buried himself further into Shoyou’s shoulder, “I have to go to work. I couldn’t get off the entire time you were here.” But was seriously debating calling in sick and skipping work. And class. And volleyball. Shoyou was only going to be here for a few days, everything else could wait for him.

“Then go! You love your job and it’s important,” Shoyou ran his fingers through Kei’s hair which was doing the opposite of convincing him to leave.

Kei bit back a ‘but I love you more’ because that was too sappy and he wasn’t awake enough for such feelings. “Fine, but you have to walk me to work.”

The walk usually didn’t take that long, but Kei purposefully walked slower and Shoyou pointed out every little thing that changed while he was gone, making it take about twice as long. Shoyou bounced from ‘that shop wasn’t there before’ to ‘look, that used to be a different color’ to ‘they made the best meat buns’. Kei had no idea where he stored all of that information.

When they reached the museum Kei grabbed his hand and didn’t want to let go. They stood at the entrance for a few minutes watching people go by even though Kei was already late. He didn’t care, he needed to steal these precious minutes.

“Text me when you’re done,” Shoyou said softly, “I’ll come pick you up and walk you to class.”

Kei stared at their joined hands, “I’m not going to class today.”

“Yes, you are!” If he stomped his foot he would have sounded just like a petulant child. Kei tried to hide his smile but Shoyou caught it, “Fine, we’ll talk about it later. I’m going to see some friends but I’ll be right back when you’re done.”

It was difficult to watch him go.

When Kei finally made his appearance inside the museum, Haruka appeared by his side like she was waiting for him. Because she was. She had heard that their very serious Tsukishima was standing outside looking upset with a man with orange hair; the others were gossiping about what was going on but Haruka already knew and she wanted some inside information.

Kei looked at her warily when she showed up out of the blue bearing coffee. He could tell that she wanted something, he just couldn’t tell what exactly it was that she wanted. As they walked deeper into the museum and she kept quiet, his suspicions only grew.

“What?” he sighed, “What is it?”

She turned to him with an excited look on her face, like she knew her silence was the key to breaking him, “How was seeing Hinata?” She at least had the decency to keep her voice down, she knew that he valued his privacy, especially regarding his sexuality.

“He’s good. Home for a few days,” his cheeks burned and he adamantly refused to look at her, choosing instead to keep a steady pace that was a touch too fast for her.

“So what are you doing here?” She asked cheekily.

He shot her a glare over his shoulder, “I work here.”

Haruka shrugged, “If my long lost lover came home suddenly I would skip everything. Don’t bother coming to class later, I’ll cover for you and send you the notes you need. It shouldn’t be anything too bad.”

Kei slowed down so she didn’t have to lightly jog to keep up, “Thanks,” he said under his breath, trying and failing to will his blush away, “I appreciate it.”

Right before his shift ended Shoyou turned up. He wouldn’t have known except he heard one of the older women who worked there talking about a muscular boy with bright hair loitering in the lobby. Kei looked at the work he had left to do and decided that nothing couldn’t wait until tomorrow to be completed. No one would notice if he slipped out now, except maybe Haruka, who had taken to winking at him, but the risk of her teasing was a fair price to pay.

Shoyou was indeed waiting in the lobby. He looked nervous and lost, like he had never been there before despite the fact Kei had brought him there multiple times to look at new exhibits while they were in high school. When they finally saw each other Shoyou gave him a little wave but continued to bounce on his feet nervously.

“Do you have all of your stuff?” Shoyou called out.

Kei shook his head, “I heard you were here and stopped by the lobby first. You can come to the staff room with me so I can grab my bag, then we can leave.”

Shoyou walked a few paces behind Kei. Kei thought maybe a reporter was following him or something of the sort so he ducked into the museum to get some peace, and for the sake of appearances they couldn’t touch. He didn’t question it too much. Kei waved Shoyou into the staff room just in case he was being followed and needed some solace.

He didn’t expect Shoyou to quickly look around the room to check if anyone else was there. He also didn’t expect Shoyou to push him against the wall roughly and pull him down for a blistering kiss. This kiss held all the urgency that yesterday’s didn’t, it was demanding and wanting. It made Kei moan.

“Make that noise again,” Shoyou demanded.

Kei was dazed. It looked like he wasn’t being followed, he just came here to jump his boyfriend. He wasn’t one to complain about that but he was still seeing stars, “Shoyou…”

He pushed him roughly against the wall again and licked at his lips, “We need to go home, I want to fuck you.” He said it with such seriousness that Kei couldn’t help but moan again. Kei could see Shoyou’s pupil’s dilate at the sound, he was usually so quiet.

“You can’t just say something like that,” he mumbled.

Shoyou pulled him down further so he could whisper in his ear, “I want to tie up your hands so you can’t touch me, and blindfold you so you can’t see me, and gag you so you can’t tell me what to do. Please, Kei. I’ve been thinking about this for so long and yesterday I fell asleep and today as soon as you were gone I realized how much I want you. I need you right now, please.”

“We’re not doing this in the museum.”

“Home, now, please.”

-

Shoyou had Kei pinned to the bed with a dark and hungry look in his eyes. At his insistence they stripped down to their underwear almost the moment they walked in the door. Kei liked this demanding Shoyou who pulled him down the hallway and pushed him onto the bed, he wasn’t usually so forceful but they have never gone so long without each other before.

“So you really plan on tying me up?” Kei asked, amusement clear in his voice.

He licked his lips as he ran his hands up Kei’s arms to press at his wrists,“Yeah.”

Kei tilted his head back to look at their hands. With his neck exposed like that Shoyou couldn’t help but place a few open mouth kisses there. Kei shuddered, “Why?”

He pulled at Kei’s wrists and placed them on his hips. Shoyou loved how willingly his usually stubborn lover was letting himself be moved, but he could tell that Kei was a little bit apprehensive by the way he fiddled with the waistband of Shoyou’s underwear, “When you touch me I can’t think straight,” he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his hands, even though they weren’t moving, as if demonstrating his point.

“And blindfold?”

“If you can see then you’ll think too much,” Shoyou said so matter-of-factually that Kei couldn’t help but scoff.

“You could just take my glasses off,” he mumbled.

Shoyou laughed lightly and shook his head, “no, then you’ll squint and think too much.”

If crossing his arms across his chest didn’t mean he would have to stop touching Shoyou, he would have done it. But he conceded the point. “And gag?”

Shoyou’s eyes flashed that dark and hungry look again, “You’re always in control when you talk,” he gripped Kei’s chin and forced him to look at him, “Let me have it.”

Kei let out an involuntary whine that had Shoyou grinning. He nodded.

“Yes! Okay!” Shoyou bounced off the bed and headed towards Kei’s closet, “Which of these ties do you like the least? And if you want me to stop you can just kick me a few times and I will. So, ties?” He held up a hanger full of ties that Kei wore to the museum.

He lowered his eyes at his overeager boyfriend, “How come we’re ruining my clothes?”

“Because I don’t own this many ties!” He threw his hands in the air and some of the ties went flying. Kei glared at him but Shoyou couldn’t help but laugh, “I’ll clean those up later, promise.”

Kei picked some of his least favorite ties and complained the entire time. (“I still like these. Why do we need to ruin my things. If they get destroyed you have to get me new ones.”) Shoyou simply grinned at him and told him this is why he wasn’t allowed to talk while they did this.

He tied off his wrists at two separate points, earning him another round of ‘you’re ruining all of my things’ but Shoyou could tell that it was nervous energy and he was trying to diffuse the situation. He made sure that the knots weren’t tight, they wouldn’t hurt and Kei could easily break free if he wanted.

“You look good like this,” Shoyou licked his lips and Kei blushed. He wasn’t used to being in such a vulnerable position but he trusted Shoyou to stop when he asked. “Lift your head, please.”

Kei picked up his head so Shoyou could slip material beneath it. He carefully put Kei’s glasses on the bedside table, knowing there would be hell to pay if they got damaged somehow, and fastened the material over his eyes. Kei blinked against it, it wasn’t pitch black, light got through the edges, but he could no longer see Shoyou. He clenched and unclenched his fists.

“You're nervous,” Shoyou murmured, “I’m going to kiss you, okay?”

Kei nodded even though he still had the ability to speak. Shoyou leaned down and kissed him softly, once, twice, three times, before Kei let out a frustrated grunt (over not being able to touch or not getting a proper kiss, he wasn’t sure). Shoyou chuckled, “even tied up you’re so demanding.” Kei considered sticking his tongue out.

Shoyou tilted Kei’s head back just a bit and pressed a deeper kiss to his lips, he could feel Kei sigh and relax against him so he felt comfortable sucking his lower lip into his mouth and worrying it lightly with his teeth. When Kei pushed forward to try and get something more, Shoyou pulled back.

“Tease,” he panted out.

“I learned from the best,” he winked even though Kei couldn’t see him, “And you’re not supposed to speak but I wanna keep kissing you. So you can say my name, yes, no, stop, and that’s it,” he counted off on his fingers.

Kei glared at him and Shoyou could only tell by the wrinkle of his forehead, “Shoyou…” he warned.

“He learns!” Shoyou gasped.

He opened up his mouth to say something scathing back but closed it and scrunched up his nose in dissatisfaction instead. Kei was pretty sure he could hear Shoyou smugly smiling at him, the jerk.

Shoyou stalled. He wanted to take charge of this interaction but he wasn’t sure how to proceed, usually that was Kei’s job. He licked his lips and looked at the man beneath him, he was a sight to behold with his arms spread above his head, his usually perfect hair in a messy halo around his head to not get tangled in the makeshift blindfold’s knot, and his pink lips.

He reached out and touched his lips, almost pulling back when Kei let out a full body shudder at the unexpected contact. Shoyou brushed his thumb across his lips and slipped it inside his mouth after Kei took a shaky breath. He was so beautiful panting around his finger, not daring to close his mouth around it because Shoyou didn’t tell him to and he knew he was trying to take charge.

Shoyou pulled out his thumb and shifted down so he was sitting just above Kei’s hips. It was times like these he could really appreciate how long and lean his boyfriend’s body was. He leaned forward and licked one of his nipples; Kei almost jolted out of his skin and Shoyou laughed quietly. He sucked his nipple into his mouth and pinched the other one, Kei squirmed beneath him and pulled against the bindings.

“Shoyou,” he panted out, “I want to touch you.”

He bit down. “Too many words,” he scolded before placing a small kiss on the abused skin.

“Shoyou…” he whined.

But he wasn’t listening. Instead he placed small kisses down Kei’s stomach until he reached his underwear. When he reached the end of the line he travelled to Kei’s side and bit him there too. He grunted when Shoyou’s teeth sunk in, he wasn’t a fan of pain even if he would like the mark, but he didn’t tell him to stop. While his mouth worked he let his hands wander back down.

He toyed with Kei’s underwear only for a moment before pushing it down his hips and freeing his half-hard erection. Shoyou palmed him and gave him a few long, slow and teasing strokes until Kei was arching into the touch and biting down hard on his lips.

Again Shoyou repositioned himself further down, tapping Kei’s thighs so he would spread his legs and make room for him between them. He was barely settled when he took Kei into his mouth.

“Shoyou!” he yelled.

He pulled back, “Yes?” The yell was louder than he expected so he wanted to check if he was doing something wrong.

Kei gritted his teeth, “Yes.”

“Oh!” he smiled, “Okay! Um, also, I’ll warn you about this, but I have lube here and I’ll let you know before I try and put anything in you.”

“Yes,” he said again, a light pink dusting covered his cheeks.

After going back to his interrupted blowjob, Shoyou couldn’t help but moan around it; it had been so long since he last touched Kei like this and it was almost too much for him. Kei gasped and involuntarily thrust deeper into Shoyou’s mouth. His hands clenched and unclenched with a burning need to bury themselves into Shoyou’s hair, but he kept himself still to the point his shoulders quivered with the strain.

Shoyou had less self-restraint than Kei who could hold off on touching himself while he teased his lover. He shoved his own underwear down and tried to set up a rhythm where he could thrust into his own hand and steadily bob up and down on Kei’s now full erection. It was awkward and frustrating.

He pulled off again and stopped everything he was doing. Kei whined at him again for the lack of contact. “Don’t worry,” he mumbled, “I’m getting lube ready, okay?” As he uncapped the bottle and coated his fingers he prompted Kei again, “Okay?”

“Yeah,” he swallowed, “yeah.”

“Good,” he said softly, “I’ll stop if you need me to.”

Shoyou gently rubbed at Kei’s entrance before pushing the tip of one finger in, Kei clenched around him and Shoyou bit back a groan, “You’re so tight, don’t you ever finger yourself?”

He let out a shaky breath, “No.”

“Why not?” He looked up at Kei and waited for an answer, “You can use words to answer that.”

“There are faster ways to masturbate, Shoyou,” he snapped. Shoyou started using his off-hand to stroke his erection so he could focus on that feeling rather than the feeling of being penetrated. (He doesn’t have an off-hand, his brain helpfully reminded him, he’s ambidextrous now.) “I don’t watch porn either.”

“Why not?” Kei relaxed as they talked and Shoyou was gently fucking him with his whole finger.

He panted a bit, “Why what?”

“Why don’t you do those things?” He started working in his second finger.

Kei frowned, “Lube is messy, it takes too long, porn is fake, and it doesn’t do anything for me. It’s not you.”

Shoyou chucked, “Too bad you won’t let me sext you or I’d make some for you. Now no more talking.”

Shoyou easily moved two fingers in and out and delighted at how Kei squirmed against them like he was searching for more. He picked up the pace and Kei moaned loudly. He wanted to see how loud he could make Kei. Shoyou stroked Kei quickly, making him thrust up into his hand and then back down on his fingers. He let out a frustrated grunt and Shoyou loved it.

After a few more strokes he put Kei’s cock back into his mouth and hummed around it as permission to fuck his mouth. Kei snapped his hips up without thinking and when Shoyou didn’t stop him he repeated the action again and again until he paused to grind down on his fingers. Shoyou whined around him, he loved doing this to Kei but it wasn’t the best position for seeing him in his writhing glory.

“Shoyou…” Kei grunted out as he tried to get more from his fingers, “if you don’t want me to come like this you need to stop.”

Shoyou thrusted hard with his fingers, finally brushing against his prostate, as if to tell him he had permission to come like this. Kei moaned louder than Shoyou had ever heard before. The permission and a few more fast strokes was all he needed to get over the edge. Shoyou swallowed him all down, stroking the last of his orgasm out of him.

Kei didn’t say anything as Shoyou pulled out and off of him. He had no idea how with it he was but he looked beautifully wrung out.

“Fuck,” Shoyou whispered to himself as he crawled up next to Kei and eyed his content looking face. “Fuck,” he repeated again. Kei didn’t stir.

Shoyou licked his lips again and took himself in hand as he hovered over his lover. He looked so good and he didn’t have the patience to finish preparing him (Kei was right, it takes too long), and Kei wouldn’t mind if he just--

“Shoyou!” Kei yelled and pulled against the restraints, freeing his hands, as Shoyou came across his lips, blindfold, and hair. He pulled off the makeshift blindfold and licked his lips clean, causing Shoyou to groan.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” he rubbed the back of his head like he was embarrassed, “I didn’t think you’d mind... or hear me if I asked.”

Kei rubbed his eyes and squinted up at him before reaching for his glasses to help reorient himself, “I know,” he let out a fake sigh, “you have a huge kink for coming on my face.”

“Don’t say it like that!” Shoyou lightly slapped his chest and crossed his arms, “And you look so good like this! You won’t let me take a picture so I need to keep doing it so I can remember what it looks like.”

“Just come on a picture of me,” he waited a few beats for Shoyou to answer. He didn’t. “You have, haven’t you?”

“Shut up, Kei.”

-

Shoyou was almost asleep on top of Kei. Feeling the rise and fall of his chest and his hands running up and down his back was almost enough to lull him to sleep. He wanted to enjoy this peaceful moment forever but he was fairly certain that he could hear Kei’s wheels turning, threatening to ruin their delicate balance.

“You have to leave again soon,” Kei said seemingly out of nowhere. In reality it had been on his mind since Shoyou first came to town. His stay here was always going to be temporary. Kei loved that Shoyou was achieving his dream, he didn’t love that his dream was elsewhere.

Shoyou groaned into Kei’s chest. He knew that eventually they had to talk about it, but he didn’t want to ruin the time they had together,“Do we have to talk about it now?”

Kei frowned, “We should talk about our relationship.”

Shoyou sat up suddenly, accidentally elbowing Kei in the side in the process, “I swear Kei, if you try and break up with me one more time…” he tried to threaten but no more words followed. He didn’t know what he could threaten. He wasn’t going to say then he’d leave, because Kei was self destructive at times and would agree.

He grunted at the unexpected pain. “I’m not,” he said sincerely. Shoyou was so openly looking at him that Kei couldn’t help but look away, “We just… You’ve been back in Japan for months and I didn’t get to see you until now. Before you leave I want to know when we’ll be able to see each other again.”

“You’re so needy,” he teased, “hold on, I have my volleyball schedule on my phone.” He scrambled over Kei to reach his phone that had been sitting quietly on the side table. Kei sat up and pulled out his own schedule to compare, he was actually much busier than Shoyou and counted on Shoyou to visit him.

“Okay. Here are all my games for the season and where they are. If they’re close by and you’re around I can stop by” Shoyou rubbed the back of his head, “We also have a mandatory day off once a week that I was using to study up on how other players move, but I could do that here.”

Kei frowned again as they compared schedules, “Even on days you can be here I’ll be busy.”

Shoyou bumped his shoulder, “So I can pick you up from wherever you are and we can have dinner and sleep next to each other. Even if I need to take the train back the next morning it’s better than nothing.”

“Okay.”

“Okay good! Now give me your phone!” He grabbed Kei’s phone out of his hand and started marking up his calendar, “I can be here on these days but just overnight… and these days I can maybe stay a whole day.”

Kei looked over his new mess of a calendar (all of his events were color coordinated and Shoyou put all the dates he would be in under the Museum Events category and he would need to fix all of it so it made sense again), “At least once a month then. I can’t visit you until after graduation.”

Shoyou flopped back down on the couch, sprawling across Kei’s lap in the process, “Are we done now? I was about to take a really good nap.”

-

Kei held Shoyou’s hand as they walked to the train station. Shoyou was leaving today and they had both been acting sullen all morning. He tried to lighten the mood by swinging their linked arms back and forth but Kei wasn’t in a playful mood. They walked slowly, having left the apartment with plenty of time to spare because they knew they were going to drag their feet.

When the train station came into view Shoyou stopped walking and squeezed Kei’s hand tightly. Kei turned to him to say something but was stopped when he saw tears glistening in his eyes. He really didn’t expect Shoyou to cry over his departure, they had plans to meet up again and it wasn’t even that far off.

Shoyou wiped away stray tears with his free hand, “Sorry,” he choked out, “I just realized I don’t want to go.” He looked up at Kei and tried to glare, and maybe it would have been successful if tears weren’t rolling down his face, “Did you do something to me?”

Kei let go of his hand so he could wrap an arm around his shoulders, “If I was going to drug you then you wouldn’t have been able to leave the house,” they continued walking at a much slower pace.

“Drug? Who said anything about drugs! Admit it, you hypnotized me so I would cry and not you,” he laughed and wiped away more tears. Even crying Shoyou managed to appear like he was in good spirits, but Kei knew better than to believe that. He would play along until they got to the station but then he wouldn’t let Shoyou hide how he was feeling.

“No,” Kei waved his hand dismissively, “hypnotism only works on intelligent creatures.”

“Hey!” Shoyou shoved him with his shoulder, “I’m much smarter than I used to be. Maybe not school smart but I can take care of myself and I know three languages! How many languages do you speak?”

“Your English and Portuguese are better than mine because you got a lot more real world experience, but I can understand them well enough.”

“Fine,” he grumbled, “You’ll always be smarter than me.”

“That was never in question,” he said smugly.

The walk down the rest of the block was quiet except for the occasional sniffle. When they were close enough to the train platform that there was no possible way for Shoyou to miss his train back to Osaka, Kei pulled him into a hug. Shoyou clung to him and buried his face in his chest, trying to block out the rest of the world, trying to transport them back to high school where they could so easily create their own little bubble and block everything else out.

Kei soothingly ran his fingers through Shoyou’s hair and held him close to block his tears from the rest of the world, “I’d love to keep you with me,” he said softly, Shoyou let out a sob, “But you need to go practice for your next match. Your team will be counting on you. I don’t like sharing you but you have responsibilities to take care of, then you can come back.”

Shoyou held on tighter, “How come when I want you to be a possessive jerk you end up being all reasonable?”

“You should know by now that I never do what you want,” Kei responded easily.

“Can we just… stay like this until the train is here?”

“Of course.”

\--

For the most part their schedule worked out. More than once Shoyou rolled into town around midnight, collapsed into bed beside Kei, and then was gone by lunch. But more often than that they were able to spend a few waking hours together, even if it was sitting quietly together while Kei studied for finals or wrote papers. Even if they weren’t going out and doing anything special, having the ability to lean over and kiss the other’s cheek just because they wanted to was worth it.

Finally, Kei was graduating college. The museum offered him a full-time position there after he graduated which he eagerly accepted. They already knew about his volleyball schedule and were willing to accommodate him if he needed to travel for matches during work hours. Kei was relieved that he didn’t have to sacrifice one for the other. Sure, he wasn’t as good as many of the other players (he could admit that now without his ego being too bruised) but most of them weren’t going to college full time and a job part time. Now that his schedule was theoretically lighter, maybe he could advance some of his volleyball skills as well. That was definitely his inner Shoyou talking.

Shoyou was supposed to show up for his graduation but Kei hadn’t heard anything from him all day. Today was also going to be the day he introduced Shoyou to his mother as his boyfriend. They, of course, were already acquainted but they hadn’t seen each other since before he asked to go to Rio and came out.

When the graduation ceremony started he still didn’t know if Shoyou was there. He did see Akiteru give him a thumbs up but knowing his brother that could mean anything from hello, I see you over to we found your boyfriend and everything is going splendidly. Kei wasn’t sure which one he hoped it to be.

The ceremony passed in a blur. People talked, they clapped politely, and they got ready to leave with their loved ones. Not that Kei knew where his loved ones were.

An arm made its way around his shoulders, “My little brother, I’m so proud of you!” Aki covered his face with his other arms and cried real tears. It was embarrassing, just like when he would come to his high school volleyball games.

“Aki…”

“Come this way,” he used the arm around his shoulders to lead Kei away from the crowd, “Mom is this way and if you think that I’m embarrassing, which you do, your face gives it away, then just you wait until she sees you.”

“Aki,” he tried again.

He wildly gestured in front of them, “I thought she was going to cry through the whole ceremony. We’re so proud of you.”

Kei opened his mouth to try and stop his brother again but his mother came into view. His mother who was talking to Shoyou without him. Kei checked his phone and gritted his teeth, Shoyou didn’t even bother to let him know that he was here and now he had to worry about what humiliating thing his mother told his boyfriend-- or his boyfriend told his mother!

“Your children are very different,” he heard Shoyou laugh when they got closer.

His mother sighed, “Yes, but they’re also very similar. Oh! Here they are!” She pulled Kei into a hug, “I’m so proud of you. I always knew you were going to do it but I’m so glad I got to see it.”

“Hello,” he greeted them stiffly, “Thank you for all you’ve done to help me.”

The three of them grinned at him and he knew that they were going to gang up on him and he was going to lose. For a brief moment he thought that it was a bad idea to introduce Shoyou to his mother, but watching them talk so amicably filled him with joy.

“We have a surprise for you!” Shoyou clapped his hands together, eyes sparkling, “Stand right there.”

The three of them took a few steps back and for the first time he realized that they were all wearing zip-up jackets. They counted down from three and with a flourish unzipped and removed their jackets to reveal they were all wearing his Sendai Frogs jersey.

He covered his face with his hands, “You’re so embarrassing.”

“But you love us,” Aki taunted.

Kei changed his mind. Getting the three of them together was a bad idea.

\--

Kei was giving a tour to a group of students when someone collided with him full force and knocked him on his back with a loud thunk, sending his glasses flying across the marble floor. The students and staff circled around him to see if he was okay.

“What the hell are you doing?” He yelled at the same time the person on top of him yelled--

“I did it!”

Kei blinked hard at the unmistakably orange blob on top of him, “Shoyou?”

“I did it!” He yelled again, “I’m on the Olympic volleyball team!”

Kei groaned and laid his head down on the cold marble beneath him, “Did you have to try and end my career-- both of them-- to tell me? What are you even doing here?”

Shoyou had the good grace to look sheepish but it didn’t matter because Kei couldn’t see his expression anyway. “Sorry. I rushed over as soon as I found out.” He finally got off of Kei and handed him his glasses, “I needed to tell you in person and it couldn’t wait.”

Kei stood up and dusted himself off. The students were talking loudly among themselves and his coworkers, those who didn’t know Shoyou at least, weren’t sure how they should handle the situation. He cleared his throat. “I apologize for the interruption. This is Hinata Shoyou, he is a wing spiker on the MSBY Black Jackals Division 1 Volleyball team and he was just chosen to represent Japan in the Olympics.” Kei blushed a bit, “He’s also my boyfriend.”

The children looked amazed to be in the presence of an Olympian. At least until one asked, “Aren’t you too short to play volleyball?” and the group erupted into chatter about how tall you needed to be.

Shoyou grinned at the children and jumped as high as he could, clearly showing off. Everyone in the room fell silent in awe.

Except Kei, “You idiot, don’t go showing off and hurt yourself!” He coughed and tried to compose himself, “We should really continue the tour…”

Shoyou waved at the children, “Listen to him, okay? He’s super smart and also a professional volleyball player so he’s good at everything and good at teaching you things,” he turned his bright smile to Kei, “I’m going to see a few more people today but I should be home later.”

Kei looked at the gathering crowd and debated not doing it but inwardly sighed and braced himself, “Okay. I love you.” He leaned down and pecked Shoyou on the lips.

The blinding smile in return was worth it.

(The same day Kei found out when Olympic volleyball was scheduled to be played he took all of those days off.)

-

The Olympics were loud and the stands were full of people who knew nothing about the sport. He couldn’t fault people who knew nothing about it and simply wanted to see Olympic level athletes compete, except he could and he did. So many of their friends couldn’t be there to see people they knew play because these idiots wanted to watch a sport they didn’t care about.

Kei fumed. It was much easier on him to be irritated about who was in the stands than to worry about Shoyou. Shoyou, of course, was having the time of his life. Kei had received a thousand pictures of the Olympic village and the volleyball team and other countries' teams and people he should apparently know but didn’t. But if one of them was going to be nervous at least it wasn’t the one who could throw up on the court.

Shoyou was gaining international attention by being the shortest volleyball player participating in this year’s games. Kei hated that he was getting attention based on height rather than skill but Shoyou shrugged it off and told him that he would show them all up. He wasn’t the greatest decoy for nothing. When did Shoyou get so wise?

During the first match he heard the foreigners next to him laugh when Shoyou was announced. He couldn’t understand what they were saying but by their gestures they were mocking his height. Their audible gasps the first time they saw Shoyou jump was music to his ears.

Like every match, Kei watched with a combination of pride, envy, and disgust at what Shoyou could do. If he thought the men in Division 1 teams were all monsters then the Olympic team was made up of gods and he would never compare. But that didn’t stop him from tracking the ball and trying to come up with counters. It was utterly thrilling. He couldn’t be sure if he blinked or breathed the entire game.

Japan won the first match. Shoyou laid down on the court, covered in sweat and chest heaving, and raised his fist to the sky. The stadium erupted around him.

-

Shoyou wasn’t nervous until Japan reached the semi-finals. Japan was one of the top four teams in the world and he wanted to feel proud of his accomplishments and his team but all he felt was anxiety. He stared out at the court and suddenly he was back in high school where he didn’t have the skills to win. They always got so close, so very close, but they never quite made it there.

He took a deep breath to ground himself. He wasn’t in high school anymore, even if he could hear Kageyama yelling at someone in the distance just like back then. He was better than he was in high school and he was on a top tier team-- the top tier team.

Kageyama slapped his back, “Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

Shoyou glared up at him, “I’m fine.” He looked around where the news crews were setting up cameras, “Do you think they’re having a viewing party at Karasuno?”

“Maybe,” Kageyama shrugged.

“I bet they are,” he grinned at all the cameras, “We need to win for all our kohai. So do your best out there, Bakayama.”

He crossed his arms, “You don’t need to tell me that, dumbass.”

-

The silver medal felt heavy around his neck.

He earned it. He was proud of it. He was proud of his team who fought to get as far as they did and exhausted themselves in the process. But he couldn’t help but feel like he was back in the Karasuno locker room with Kei crying about how he wanted to win.

Japanese and international reporters flocked to him and he smiled brightly and talked about their second place finish and how happy he was to be able to do this for Japan. He answered questions about playing against people so much taller than him and made jokes about how he could jump over them, and that height was only one weapon, not the only one. It lasted a long time and by the end of it his face hurt and his eyes stung.

He was happy that his team was there with them.

Some of the players were ecstatic that they medaled at all. Others felt the same as Shoyou did. He knew that Kageyama fell in the second category and that he was itching to get moving again and do something.

To: Sho-chan  
From: Tsukishima Kei  
Congratulations.

Are you okay?

To: Kei (❤ω❤)  
From: Hinata Shoyou  
Im gonna do a few tosses with kageyama

To: Sho-chan  
From: Tsukishima Kei  
Come back soon.

Don’t injure yourself.

I love you.

Shoyou stared at his phone. He would go see Kei later, and he was grateful that Kei understood. He needed to work out some feelings now.

-

When Shoyou stumbled in the door exhausted hours later, Kei was still up waiting for him. Kei knelt at his feet and unlaced Shoyou’s shoes so he could slip out of them.

“I love you,” Shoyou blurted out.

Kei looked up at him with tired eyes, “I love you too. Let’s go to bed.”

Shoyou rummaged around in his bag until he found the silver medal, “Here. Keep this here. Next time I’ll bring home a gold.”

Kei smiled sleepily at him, “I’ll hold you to that. Can we go to bed now?”

“Can I shower first?” Shoyou asked sheepishly.

“No.”

They were asleep before they hit the pillows.

\--

On one of the rare occasions where their schedules aligned and they had more than one day off, they took a quick train ride back to their hometowns to visit Shoyou’s mother and Natsu. When possible his mother and sister went to his matches or visited him in Osaka but he visited them even more sporadically than he did Kei. Because they both had the time off, Kei agreed to go with him.

Shoyou’s mother was one of the kindest people that Kei had ever met, but considering the two children she raised he wasn’t too surprised about that. Not that he would ever tell that to Shoyou. She greeted them warmly and hustled them through the door and right to the table so she could feed them. Shoyou eagerly went to the table, happy for a home cooked meal, and dragged Kei along behind him.

She set out dish after dish and Shoyou started eating before his mother finished setting the table. Kei wasn’t even sure if Natsu was home and if she would be joining them. Because he was raised with manners he waited for her to finish bringing out the food and sit down herself.

She smiled at him, “You could have started. I know traveling makes people hungry.”

He looked at Shoyou with a disgusted expression, no one needed to eat that much that fast. Politely, and at a regular speed, he picked up his chopsticks and began eating. “Thank you, it looks good.”

“It’s wonderful!” Shoyou slammed his hands on the table, “I missed this!”

“We’re in your house so I know you weren’t raised in a barn,” Kei scolded him for his over-enthusiasm, “At least act like you know how to behave indoors.”

Shoyou’s mother couldn’t hold back her laughter, “I’m glad someone is taking care of him. Thank you for looking after him, I’m sure it couldn’t have been easy.”

“Mom!” Shoyou complained, “Don’t gang up on me.”

Kei normally would have replied with something witty or sarcastic but instead his cheeks turned red and he tried to hide behind a bowl of rice. They talked about telling her that they were dating but in the end Shoyou shrugged and said they should just act like they normally do and if she questions anything then they can tell her the truth. He didn’t want to have a serious conversation about it.

“I look after him just as much. Look how skinny he is! I make sure he eats. He’s a professional volleyball player and he doesn’t eat enough,” Shoyou continued on, suddenly acting like he was Kei’s mother.

“And how long have you been taking care of him?” She asked slyly, a smile still on her face.

Shoyou opened and closed his mouth a few times, gaping like a fish. Sure they had talked about telling her if she asked about it but he didn’t expect her to actually ask them about it. At least he didn’t expect her to openly ask both of them, maybe pull Shoyou to the side.

While Shoyou was busy with his fish impression Kei wiped his mouth and folded his hands in front of him, ready for the conversation. “Since the end of our first year of high school.”

The smile fell off her face, “You’ve been keeping this from me for eight years?”

“I didn’t mean to! In high school a bunch of people knew but we were still worried about their reactions and then I went to Rio and wasn’t even here and then I came back and we hardly saw each other and then there was the Olympics and I didn’t know if they would accept an openly bisexual player and it was just never a good time,” Shoyou rushed to tell her.

“I’m not really upset,” she ran her fingers through her long hair, “I wish I could have shared in your happiness.”

Tears sprung to Shoyou’s eyes as he nodded fervently, “We’re happy. We don’t get to see each other enough but we’re both doing very good.”

“Well,” Kei corrected automatically before he realized that it probably wasn’t the right time, “Sorry. I love Shoyou. I’ll keep taking care of him.”

Shoyou laughed, “He’s always correcting me,” he rested his elbow on the table so he could hold his chin in his hand to look at Kei, “I’m going to take care of you too.”

“Mr. Can’t-Set-An-Alarm-Or-Do-Laundry-Correctly is going to take care of me?”

“I messed up the laundry one time! One time, Kei! And what about you? Mr. Can’t-Get-Outta-Bed-Or-Feed-Myself is going to take care of me?”

Their banter was interrupted by his mother's loud laughter. For a moment they had forgotten that she was there, accidentally getting stuck in their own bubble. She smiled at them like they were wonderful and they sheepishly smiled back.

“I should have known you were important,” she told Kei, “You got Shoyou through school and Natsu is going to be a veterinarian because of you. You’ve helped my whole family.”

\--

When Kei left work Shoyou was hovering by the entrance with a nervous look on his face. Kei frowned at him, Shoyou wasn’t supposed to be here for a few more days and every time he showed up unannounced he tended to have some kind of news-- anything from he’s going to the Olympics to he has the flu and wants to rest at home with Kei.

But the look on his face let Kei know that this news was probably going to be bigger than I wanted to go to the cherry blossom festival with you so I hopped on a train, hope you’re not upset.

Kei stopped a few steps behind Shoyou and waited for him to notice him. After three minutes of standing around and watching Shoyou shift anxiously from foot to foot and bounce up and down but not turn around or acknowledge his surroundings Kei took out his phone.

To: Sho-chan  
From: Tsukishima Kei  
I just got out of work. What are you doing?

Shoyou jumped when his phone vibrated and took it out of his pockets with shaky hands to respond. Kei thought about texting him back and forth while they were standing within touching distance but came up with a better idea. He quietly took a few steps forward, “You’re not thinking of lying to me are you?”

Shoyou fumbled his phone and it fell to the ground, “Kei! You’re here! I mean, I’m here!”

“I see that, Shoyou,” he crossed his arms, “What are you doing here?”

He pouted, “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“Thrilled,” he deadpanned, “Now why are you here?”

Shoyou bit his lip and started shifting from foot and foot again, he was obviously nervous whatever it was and he was starting to make Kei nervous as well. Whatever it was that he needed to talk about in person could also be bad news.

He took a deep breath, “You know how we’ve been dating for like a hundred years--”

“Sure.” Kei interrupted. It was almost ten at this point, it might as well be a hundred.

But Shoyou barrelled through, “--Let’s get married.”

Kei was pretty sure the world stopped for a second. He stared blankly at Shoyou, he couldn’t possibly have suggested what he thought he did. In all of their years together they never talked about getting married. It would be a lie to say he never thought about it, but it wasn’t legal here so they simply couldn’t. Sure they could just call each other husbands or something instead of boyfriends and have a party but-- Kei shook his head, he was spiraling.

“What?” He asked blankly. It was all he could get out.

“Married,” Shoyou repeated like it was going to answer all of the questions swirling around in Kei’s head. He kind of wished Shoyou would stop showing up out of the blue and would stick to their planned visits instead.

Kei stared at him and hoped that Shoyou’s face would give away any kind of answer to what exactly was going on. It didn’t. “No, I heard you the first time,” he pushed his glasses up his forehead and rubbed his eyes. “That’s not legal here.”

“It is in Brazil.”

That solved the legality part but didn’t answer any of his other questions, like why this was happening now and why Shoyou decided to accost him outside his place of work instead of waiting for him to get home so they could have this conversation in private like normal people. And he knew that Shoyou really enjoyed being in Rio despite them being apart but he didn’t know he enjoyed it to let’s-go-back-and-get-married levels.

Kei still didn’t understand where this was coming from, “You want to go to Brazil. To get married.” He slowly enunciated every word to make sure he was getting the story straight.

Shoyou’s face lit up and he nodded eagerly at him, “And because Asas Sao Paulo wants me to play for them.”

“Oh. So that’s why,” Kei frowned at him. That was the real reason then, it didn’t have anything to do with him or their relationship.

Shoyou was absolutely baffled by the sudden shift in atmosphere. He didn’t understand why Kei was suddenly upset, “What? No! I want you to come with me.”

Kei shook his head and lightly shoved Shoyou’s shoulder, “You didn’t ask me to come with you, you asked if I wanted to get married! If you want me to go with you ask me that instead.”

“What if I also want to get married!” Shoyou threw his hands up in the air. He didn’t know when he lost control of the conversation, or whether he ever had control of it at all, but it wasn’t going as he planned. He didn’t expect Kei to get mad at him of all things. Surprised, sure. Happy, of course. Mad? Why? But he couldn’t help but smile, this was so very like Kei and he loved him for it.

Kei, on the other hand, was frustrated, “Shoyou! What are you asking me?”

“Ugh. Tsukishima Kei,” he paused for a moment to dig through his pockets and find a cheap plastic prize ring with a dinosaur charm to hold out to Kei, “I was offered a chance to play on a great team in Brazil and I want to take it but I don’t want to leave you again. Will you please come with me? AND while we’re there will you marry me?”

Kei stared at the ring for a long moment before slowly turning back to Shoyou with an incredulous look, “No.”

“N-No? What do you mean no?” He shouted, getting in Kei’s face and shoving his shoulder back like Kei did before.

He took a step backwards and pushed his glasses up his nose. Shoyou knew he was doing that to hide his face so he calmed himself enough to listen to what Kei was saying. “Well I can’t just pack up and leave the country on a whim.” If Kei was still young enough to pout he would have been pouting.

Shoyou laughed loudly, “I’m not asking you to do it tomorrow!”

Kei exaggeratedly tapped his chin and pretended to think, “Hmm, well in that case, yes.”

“Are… are you teasing me? Are you being mean to me after I asked you to marry me? You asshole! I take it back. I don’t want you.” He turned around and started walking away.

“Too bad,” Kei stepped beside him to start the walk home, “I’m coming with you.”

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you had a pleasant journey! 
> 
> If you'd like you can come yell at me about tsukihina things on my tumblr (rurambles) where I post updates about writing. I will happily yell back about this ship.
> 
> If you create anything based on my work please let me know so I can share it!


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